Real
by Mannah Pierce
Summary: Set in Sasuke & Naruto's extended family. Part of the space saga that includes In the cold of space..., Tales in Tarrasade & Iteration. What makes someone real? Haru struggles with this and other issues as he begins to grow up.
1. Nine

This is a short (for me) story. There are eleven chapters and it will be posted twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays, between Wednesday 28 December 2011 and Wednesday 1 February 2012.

It is the same world and has the same characters as in _In the cold of space you find the heat of suns_, _Tales in Tarasade_ and _Iteration_. For those of you who haven't read those, the world is AU and SciFi. Many of the characters are OOC and there are lots of children, most of whom are OCs. There are also two adult OCs.

This is part of Haru's story. It is told entirely from his point of view and, as he is only nine, sex is something that the adults around him do. However, the story is Yaoi in that most of the adults are in M/M relationships.

Good luck to anyone reading this who hasn't read the other stories. I shall try to help. Sasuke is head of Uchiha, a spacer clan. Naruto (a fox-human hybrid) is his partner and they have thirteen children (a litter of ten and younger triplets). Many Naruto anime and manga characters are sworn to Uchiha. At this time, Uchiha lives in part of a spacestation that is called Tarrasade.

Haru is one of Sasuke and Naruto's big litter (nine boys and one girl). It consists of six fox-human hybrids (Kazuki, Kuuya, Keizo, Yoshimi, Yasushi and Yuki), a wolf-human hybrid (Ryuu) and three purebred humans (Hoshi [the girl], Hikaru and Haru).

Haru calls Sasuke Papa and Naruto To-chan. His best friend is Ran (based on Ranmaru), who is an empath and Iruka and Kakashi's adopted son. He calls Shikamaru Shi-chan because Shikamaru is one of his genetic parents (Sasuke is the other) and, no, I am not explaining why here.

Sumiko is Shikmaru's little sister. He has responsibility for her since his parents died.

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><p><em>Heartfelt thanks to my beta and muse, Small Fox.<em>

_Thanks also to The Horseman of Death because the idea for this story started in a discussion with him._

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><p><strong>Real<strong>

**Chapter one: Nine**

* * *

><p>Haku-san looked at him and Haru looked back. Haru found himself thinking that Haku-san's eyes were almost identical in colour to Ran's. However, while Ran's gaze was warm and compassionate, Haku-san's was sharp; like a scalpel. What they had in common was that they both could see below the surface; Ran because he was an empath and Haku-san because he was Haku.<p>

It had been almost a standard since the big litter had turned eight and started doing duties. Each of them had been assigned to Haku-san for a division. Haru was last. He guessed that everyone had thought it would be a disaster, so had put it off for as long as possible.

Maybe delaying had helped. Out of the kits, only Yuki measured up to Haku-san's standards. Kazuki had set a new level for Haru to live down to; Haku-san had banished him to the laundry within two days. In contrast, Haku had praised Ryuu for his exemplary boot-polishing and Hoshi for taking care with delicate fabrics. Hikaru had been tolerated; attracting neither praise nor criticism.

And perhaps Haru had learned to be more flexible in the nine divs since he had turned eight.

They were twenty-five days in and the truce between them was still holding. Haru tried not to think of Haku-san as his nemesis and, in return, Haku-san treated Haru as if he was any other boy of eight.

As Haru kept telling himself, it was only half of each afternoon.

Today they were folding clothes. Haru stuck to children's tops. He divided the tops into piles according to size, selected the correct folding frame for each batch and made himself repeat the mind-numbingly boring task until each of the thirty-seven tops was a perfect square.

Haku-san was watching him even more closely than was usual. Haru braced himself.

"Occasionally I can see your Papa in you," Haku said finally.

It was so unexpected that Haru made an error. He unfolded the shirt and began again. "Thank you, Haku-san."

"Credit where credit is due," Haku admitted. He sniffed. "It is only occasionally."

But next day, during Papa-time, Papa praised him for doing his duty even when it was boring and Haru realised that Haku-san must have given him a positive report.

His Papa hugged him and kissed his forehead. "I am proud of you, Haru-chan," he declared and Haru felt warm all the way through.

It made even folding clothes worthwhile.

When he got back to the others it was personal time. The rest of the litter were spread across the bays that had been built around two walls of the main playroom. Haru headed directly to the one that he, Ran and Kazuki usually occupied.

Ran was reading. Kazuki was juggling. Haru grabbed his tablet and settled down to study his latest puzzle only to have his concentration falter. He closed the programme and looked about, wondering what had distracted him.

Yoshimi was up to something. He was working his way around the bays, speaking to each of the litter in turn. Haru saw him pop out of the bay Hoshi and Yuki were occupying. Within a few seconds he was beside Haru.

"Soon To-chan and Papa will ask what we want to do on our ninth birth anniversary," Yo-chan began.

Haru nodded; that was the usual pattern.

"We want to go for a new high score," Yoshimi told him.

Haru's eyes went to the locked door at the other side of the playroom. The first simulator had been so popular with the kits that Izumo-san had built a second and then a third. Then Shi-chan had designed scenarios that allowed interactions between users. Kakashi-san and Itachi-san began using simulations in their training, more simulators had been added, a dedicated room had been opened up and, once the ninth and tenth simulators were added, the whole litter had started to tackle problems as a team.

Itachi-san insisted that each of them practiced in each role but they were most successful when everyone played to their strengths. Haru liked it best when he was in charge of intelligence analysis.

Shi-chan's scenarios were amazing; it was like living in one of his stories.

Then Itachi-san had asked Shi-chan to introduce a scoring system and the situation had soured. The kits had become obsessed with driving up their highest score for each scenario, Kiba-san had put his foot down, To-chan had decided to limit their access to the simulators and the kits had not reacted well.

Even Haru could see that the kits' whining, pleading and sulking were annoying; Kazuki had been unbearable. He hadn't been surprised when Papa had locked the door and told them that the simulators would be disassembled if there was any more poor behaviour.

Haru imagined how Papa and To-chan would react if they said that they would prefer using the simulators to a picnic or a party.

Yoshimi was looking at him. Haru could tell that he was expecting agreement.

"I think we should ask for a session on the simulators with a new scenario and not mention a high score," Haru suggested.

Yo-chan's whiskers twitched. "Why?" he asked.

"Because To-chan and Kiba-san think you and the other kits like the simulations too much, particularly the high score part."

"Hoshi said ask for a party first," Yoshimi admitted.

"Good idea."

"Hi-chan and Ry-chan just agreed," he grumbled.

"They like the simulators as much as you do," Haru reminded him. "Why don't we let Hoshi do the asking?"

* * *

><p>Haru thought that Hoshi had done an excellent job of it. She had mentioned breakfast with To-chan and Papa, a cake and a party, followed it up by saying that they would like to go to the park and only then mentioned the simulators.<p>

Not that it mattered, because neither To-chan nor Papa was going to miss the fact that the kits all held their breath as soon as the simulators were mentioned.

"We will have the usual birth anniversary breakfast," Papa assured them.

"I am sure Choza-san will make you a cake," To-chan added.

"And we can certainly have a party and go to the park," Papa concluded. "Perhaps we should have the party in the park."

Kazuki cracked. "And the simulators?" he asked.

To-chan looked at Papa, who nodded.

"You can go on the simulators either on your birth anniversary or the day afterwards," To-chan told them.

Yoshimi opened his mouth to speak but jumped and scowled at Yuki instead. Haru guessed that Yuki had kicked him to shut him up.

Ran had arrived in the playroom while they were with Papa and To-chan. He was reading something on a tablet but put it aside when Haru and Kazuki joined him.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Hoshi did a great job," Haru answered.

Ran looked at Kazuki, who had said nothing. His tail was bushy, which meant he was agitated.

"Ka-chan?" Ran encouraged.

"I want to go on the simulators more than just once," he complained.

Haru was about to point out that it had been the kits fault they had been banned but Ran spoke first.

"Naruto-san knows how you feel. He and Sasuke-sama will sort something out."

Kazuki's fur settled and his whiskers relaxed. "Do you think so?"

Ran gave a small, reassuring smile. "Your To-chan and your Papa love you very much."

Haru liked seeing Ran smile; it still did not happen often. He smiled back; grateful that Ran had stopped him from saying something that would have made the situation worse. He stroked Kazuki's tail in silent apology and Kazuki responded by pushing against him and purring.

Perhaps they would have talked more about it, perhaps not. They never found out because Sumiko interrupted them. She invaded their bay, plonked a basket down on the table and started moving chairs.

Haru reached for the basket, intent on getting rid of her, when there was a touch on his arm. He turned and was met by Ran's compassionate, brown eyes. Haru sighed; he knew that Sumiko was avoiding Haku-san.

"Gym," Kazuki told them and vanished.

Neither Ran nor Haru regarded the gym with such affection; they left the table she had claimed to Sumiko and settled at the other.

Despite himself, Haru found himself watching Sumiko's game. She had three dolls, a small tablet, a large display tablet and a tea set. Three of the chairs were occupied by dolls, one by Sumiko herself and the large tablet was propped up on the fifth.

It was like the large tablet was a fourth doll. It was switched on and showed a face. It had dark hair, pale skin and very dark, almost black, eyes.

"Looks like you but with different colour eyes," Ran pointed out.

"It doesn't," Haru objected but he had to admit it looked a little bit like Hikaru.

The image was not very sophisticated. Its eyes did not track Sumiko's movements. It did not smile. Haru was wondering why Sumiko liked playing with it when she asked it a question and it responded.

The voice wasn't very good. It was all one tone with very little rhythm. Haru was surprised. If Shi-chan had written the programme, he would have expected it to be better.

A small thought crept into his mind. Had Sumiko written it? If so, he was grudgingly impressed. After all, she was only five.

"What's his name, Su-chan?" Ran asked.

Haru had not been sure if it was a he or a she.

"He hasn't told me yet," Sumiko admitted.

Haru was intrigued. Normally Sumiko did not hesitate to bestow names on her numerous dolls. He watched a little longer. The large tablet kept slipping on the chair and falling flat. Each time it did so, Sumiko would prop it up again. "You should get Shino-san and Shi-chan to put the processor, speaker and microphone into a doll," he suggested.

She scowled at him. "He's not a doll. He's my friend."

Haru was about to make some comment about how pathetic it was to think of a programme you had written yourself as a friend when Ran poked him. He sighed. Ran was right; it wasn't Sumiko's fault that the Mai and Naomi were a standard and a half younger than her. It didn't help that the two of them were inseparable and that Sumiko was so bossy.

Ran went to find some bean bags, brought them back and made a base for the tablet to stand on. "You'll be more comfortable if you aren't falling over," he said to the tablet. Haru knew he was being nice to Sumiko by contributing to the game.

"Thank you," the tablet responded. "Who are you?"

"I am Ran. What should I call you?"

There was a pause. "I do not know," the monotonous voice replied. "I do not have a name."

"Maybe you should have a nickname for now," Ran suggested.

Haru knew Ran was really speaking to Sumiko but addressing the tablet, making it part of the game, was clever.

"She's only using the big tablet as a display," Ran pointed out once Haku-san had gone and Sumiko had moved to her usual place near Mia and Naomi. "All the processing is in the small tablet."

Haru had gone back to his puzzle; it was one of a series that Klenn-san had sent for him and it was proving tricky.

"You could adapt one of the miniature 3D projectors for her," Ran suggested. "The ones with the workings in the base."

Haru reluctantly pulled his mind away from the puzzle. "I guess so. It would have to be one with video capacity and it would have to link wirelessly with the tablet. Sensors would be good too. That way it can be programmed to act as if the projection is reacting to its surroundings." He could see that Ran was glazing over as he always did when Haru talked about anything technical. "I'll ask Shino-san if I can alter one," he promised and was rewarded by one of Ran's smiles.

It didn't take him long to sort it out. Once he said it was for Sumiko the adults fell over themselves to help him; they were that pleased he was doing something nice for her. Shino-san gave him the components, Shi-chan the software and Izumo-san offered to fabricate a rubbery cover with an integral carrying handle.

"What colour do you want it?" he asked. "Pink? Yellow?"

Haru almost said yellow but stopped. Sumiko had insisted that the talking image was a friend, not a doll, and male rather than female. "Dark grey," he decided.

Sumiko looked at him with suspicion as he put the grey, rubbery disc on the table. He switched it on and it projected a three-dimensional image of a flower.

"You can link it to the small tablet, in the place of the large tablet," he told her.

She considered. Then she nodded, pulled the projector towards her, switched it off, picked it up by the handle and was walking away from him.

Haru swallowed his irritation. Like To-chan said, you didn't do things for people to make them grateful to you; you did them for the joy of giving.

Then, to his surprise, Sumiko turned back to him.

"Thank you, Haru-chan."

"You are welcome," he replied. "Do you need help linking it to the tablet?"

"No," she replied and continued walking away.

The next morning he spotted her talking to a disembodied face above the projector. By the afternoon the face was a head and by next day it had a body; Haru was impressed by the rate of progress.

Doll or not, the figure was obviously dressed by Sumiko; no boy would choose to wear such a silly top.

Haru discovered that doing something for Sumiko had its rewards. Papa, To-chan and Kiba-san praised him for it. Even Haku-san smiled at him. Shi-chan was very pleased. He seemed to think Haru had done more than he actually had. Haru tried telling him that Sumiko had created her own imaginary friend and that he had only provided the projector, but Shi-chan was convinced he was being modest and Haru gave up.

He had other things to think about; the next day was their birth anniversary. They would be nine.

* * *

><p>Haru was the last to wake, as usual. For a split second he snuggled down for an extra nap but then he remembered what day it was and sat up.<p>

Like the playroom, the nursery had changed over the last standard. It was now more like a crew room, with a central shared area and five bays. They had discussed separating each bay with a wall and a door but for now it was open-plan.

He and Kazuki had chosen to have bunks in their bay. Haru had a desk, with storage below and above, and there was a closet for boring stuff like clothes and shoes. The rest of the bay, including the ceiling, was a climbing frame for Kazuki; his desk was halfway up one wall.

Kiba-san had not approved but To-chan had insisted that Kazuki should have what he wanted.

At the back of each bay there was a shower and a lavatory. Haru quickly visited both and came out scrubbing himself with a towel; too impatient to wait for the blowers.

Hanging on a hook was a new pair of pants and a top, as was usual on their birth anniversary. Amazingly, the top was not white and was patterned. It had swirls in shades of blue the odd touch of golden yellow. Haru liked it; it reminded him of images of galaxies. He wriggled into it. On the left breast, as always, was the Uchiha crest.

He finished dressing, grabbed the slip of paper he had prepared the night before and dashed through the shared area on his way to the kitchen. For once he was not last; Hoshi and Yuki were just emerging from their bay.

Hoshi's top was blue, crimson and white; her hair, which she had started to grow, was woven through with crimson ribbons.

Yuki's top was amazing; a patchwork of pattern and colour that should have clashed but didn't. Haru guessed that he had designed it himself and that Haku-san had helped him make it.

Both Papa and To-chan were already at the table. Papa congratulated them on reaching the ninth anniversary of their birth and wished them the best for the coming standard. To-chan smiled and promised them a fun day.

"I like this," he told them, indicating their new tops. "It's cheerful."

Papa took the hint. "Very festive," he agreed. "It is good to see you expressing your individuality."

To-chan waited until they had all finished eating. For once everyone stayed at the table, even Kazuki. "Today," To-chan announced and Haru sat up and paid attention. "Your Papa and I have planned the day from midmorning onwards, but that leaves first thing this morning. As usual, each of you will have one vote. Do I need to get paper and pencils?"

"I have my vote here," Ryuu declared, pulling the slip of paper from his pocket.

"So do I," Keizo added, followed by each of the others. Haru happily waved his slip of paper.

Then, as always, To-chan pointed out that they needed something to put the pieces of paper in, Papa went to get the empty tea caddy with the dragon on it and they all put their votes inside.

Next To-chan and Papa took turns pulling out the slips of paper and pretending to be surprised at yet another vote for dancing with To-chan.

They danced along the corridors, through the playroom and into the gym. On the wall, near the showers, Haru could see copies of the clothes they were wearing hanging from the hooks. He imagined Haku-san pointing out that children should play and that they would each need at least three of the birth anniversary tops.

Kiba-san was there to give each of them an anniversary hug and to drum for them. Papa played his biwa for the first part of the session but set it aside when To-chan asked him to dance.

Papa could not dance anywhere near as well as To-chan, just as Haru, Hikaru and Hoshi could not move like the kits and Ryuu. It did not matter. They danced and danced until even Kazuki was too exhausted to do anything other than slump on the floor.

They sat or laid there and watched To-chan run and leap and twirl before performing a series of handsprings and rolling to a halt beside them. The children found one last burst of energy to pile on top of him to be hugged and kissed. Haru clung tight, his joy coloured by the times his To-chan had not been there; when he had been kidnapped and when To-chan had been in the tank.

To-chan gave him another hug. "I love you, Haru-chan," he whispered; his whiskers tickling Haru's cheek.

Then they showered and redressed before gathering around a table in the playroom for juice and cookies. Shi-chan joined them. He wished them all a happy birth anniversary and sat on a chair slightly to the side.

Haru wondered what was coming next. He could see that To-chan was about to speak.

"Your Papa and I know how much you like the simulators. It's been hard saying no to you using them. So we talked to Shika-san and we have come up with some changes that we think will work.

"First, everyone will have a limit for going on any of the simulators. We are going to start by setting it at two hundred minutes over any three day period. Occasionally Itachi-san may give you special permission to go on for longer, but that will be because it's part of your training.

"Second, the highest score function has been removed. You can choose to test your skill at something, for example gunnery or navigation or orienteering, once per div. That will allow you to see if you have improved that skill.

"Thirdly, there are now different types of activities on the simulators. There are skill-practising-activities and the once-a-division tests that go with them. There are also lots of scenarios, think of them as interactive stories, for you to explore. These do not have scoring, they are just for fun. Then there are challenges.

"The important type of challenges is missions. Itachi-san will set the missions and they will be part of your training. Some will be individual, some for more than one of you and, occasionally, they will be for all of you working together. At the end of the mission there will be a mission report, a debrief and a score. Shi-chan has worked very hard to make sure that the scores can be compared mission to mission. Missions can be tried only once, like real life.

"There are also practice challenges. You can try any practice challenge three times and it will be scored like a mission is scored. There will only be a few practice challenges available at a time and they will be changed each div."

Haru considered. To him it seemed better than before but he wasn't Kazuki.

"Have you got that, Ka-chan?" Papa asked.

Kazuki twitched his whiskers. "Stories, real missions, practice missions you can do three times and skill-stuff with tests." He gave a sunny smile. "Two hundred minutes over three days is lots, Papa."

Papa looked at To-chan. "Yes, it is."

To-chan flushed slightly and Haru guessed that Papa and Kiba-san had wanted the limit set lower but To-chan had negotiated it up.

"It's a great present," Yoshimi volunteered and the others were quick to agree.

"You should thank Shika-san. He had to rewrite the engine behind all the simulations," Papa told them.

They chorused a 'thank you' to Shi-chan.

He stood up and gave a slight bow. "You are welcome. It was a pleasure. I have an anniversary present for you all. It is a scenario; a story. I hope you will enjoy it."

"Can we play it now?" Yasushi asked.

Shi-chan smiled. "There is a short introduction," he suggested.

Haru and the others looked towards Papa.

"Very well," Papa agreed.

As soon as they entered the room Haru could see that they would have thank Izumo-san, Kotetsu-san and Shino-san as well; the simulators had been completely rebuilt. He took off his shoes, top and pants and climbed in. The chair immediately conformed to his body and the sensor net spread across his skin.

_"Welcome, Haru Uchiha,"_ the interface acknowledged. _"Do you wish to participate in the current group simulation?"_

He confirmed that he did, which triggered the displays, inputs and activators. He winked into existence in what seemed to be an enchanted forest. The kits' and Hoshi's avatars were already there and Hikaru's and Ryuu's were close behind his. It was warm and humid and it smelled amazing. Haru could see Kazuki sniffing the air and wondered if Shi-chan had got Kiba-san or To-chan to help him design the scent and sound landscapes so they worked for hybrid noses and ears.

There were hundreds of butterflies, which were beautiful. A blue one fluttered over and landed on Haru's arm.

The ground was mossy and gave slightly when you walked on it. When you looked upwards all you could see were leaves; even the light was green.

A tiny, dancing mote of light appeared, generating a small sphere that glowed. In story simulations that always meant the same thing; they were meant to follow.

They made their way at Haru's pace, which left Kazuki and the other kits time to dash this way and that from the path, investigating a trunk here and a flower there.

The path led to a more open area containing fewer, more spaced trees.

"A tree-house!" Kuuya shouted and began running towards it.

Haru looked up. Across the trees was a platform. There were ropes and ladders leading up. On the platform Haru could see walls and doors and a roof.

Then To-chan was there. He had intercepted Kuuya and picked him up.

Haru noticed that Shi-chan had made To-chan glow slightly, as if he was magical.

"That is all for today," To-chan's avatar told them. "You have a party to go to."

"I wanted to play in the tree-house," Kuuya told him.

To-chan smiled. "Soon," he promised.

The others winked out one by one. Haru glanced back at the tree-house as he spoke the words that would take him out of the game.

Was there a boy sitting on the edge of the platform? He wished he had time for another look but the enchanted forest was gone, the layers of the simulator were peeling away and Kazuki was demanding that he hurry up and dress.

Then it was off for a picnic party in the park. Haru guessed that the food and the guests had gone before because the playroom was empty and Papa and To-chan weren't carrying anything, not even the triplets.

Kazuki entered the park first, accelerating away and calling for Kiba-san. Kuuya and Ryuu ran after him. Then there was excited yelping and Kazuki was back, moving at full speed, demanding that the others come see.

It was a tree-house; like the one in the simulation but real. Kuuya and Ryuu were already up on the platform. Kazuki and Yuki were swarming up two of the ropes that hung down.

Haru ran to one of the ladders only to have Hoshi reach it at the same time.

"I'll hold the bottom while you climb up," she suggested.

He thanked her and started up the ladder. It was nice of Hoshi to offer; he didn't climb quickly, so it would be a long time before she made it up to the platform.

Hoshi did things like that.

When it came to it, Hoshi was not that far behind him because Papa took over and To-chan gave her a boost up the other ladder as soon as Hikaru was up it and onto the platform.

Up on the platform there was the house and an even higher look-out tower. As well as the two ropes and two ladders, you could get down by a pole or a slide.

Once Haru had looked about he sat on the edge of the platform. He could see how much thought had gone into making the tree-house safe without ruining it as a tree-house. The balustrade around the side would be really hard to fall through but he could still dangle his legs off the edge and look through the bars.

Not that the balustrade would save Kazuki, who at that very moment was walking along what was meant to be the handrail. Haru hoped Shi-chan or Izumo-san had thought about what would happen when someone fell off.

Thinking about it, it was probably more likely that he would fall from the ladder than Kazuki would lose his balance when walking along the handrail.

"Asked others," Kazuki informed him. "Got permission to ask Ran up."

Haru smiled his thanks. Birth anniversaries were about the litter, so he had warned Ran that they might not be able to spend any time together. Even so, he was pleased that Kazuki had asked the others on his behalf.

To-chan and Papa accompanied Ran; Papa and Ran used the ladders while To-chan climbed one of the ropes. Ran came and sat beside him while To-chan and Papa enjoyed being shown around by the others.

Their shoulders were touching. Haru liked that. He knew how wary Ran was of being close to people; it made him feel special.

Haru began telling him about the simulators and Shi-chan's story. He was about to mention seeing the figure on the platform when To-chan called them, saying that everyone was going down for the party food and the cake.

To-chan slid down the pole. Haru and Ran were among those who used the slide. Then they ran to where Choza and Kiba-san had set out the food.

The cake was huge.

Haru looked over at the tree-house as he bit into his slice. He could see where he and Ran had been sitting at the balustrade.

It was exactly where the boy had been in the simulation.

* * *

><p>.<p> 


	2. When

Heartfelt thanks to my beta and muse, Small Fox.

Thanks also to The Horseman of Death because the idea for this story started in a discussion with him.

Thank you to melissen, AdoringFan, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx and Drago Imperiali for reviewing Real.

* * *

><p><strong>Real<strong>

**Chapter two: When**

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><p>Haru had been playing in the forest with the rest of the litter. Keizo had found an underground tunnel and they had been exploring what had proved to be a long-abandoned tomb or temple; they weren't sure which. Today there had been a puzzle door to open and a collapsing bridge to mend and cross.<p>

It had been fun; well worth them all investing a hundred and fifty of their two hundred minute allowance.

The others had all had to go but Haru was going to Papa's office soon to talk to him and To-chan, so he had decided to spend another few minutes sitting in the forest with the butterflies.

He was a bit worried about having to see Papa and To-chan. He thought about his behaviour over the past few days. It wasn't perfect, but he had not done anything particularly bad. He had discussed it with Ran, who had suggested that it was 'the sex talk'.

Haru wasn't sure he was old enough for that. Ran's sex talk with Iruka-san had only been half a div ago, so Haru was younger than Ran had been. Also, none of the others had been talked to. Why would Papa and To-chan start with him?

No, it was probably something he had done wrong. He just couldn't think of it.

He, or rather his avatar, sat on a convenient lump of wood. If he was still, the butterflies would land on him.

He was thinking about what it would be like to introduce real butterflies into the park when, suddenly, those on his jacket flew away. He looked about; the butterflies were programmed to behave like that when disturbed.

Standing there was a boy that looked like Sumiko's 'friend'. He had black hair, dark eyes, very pale skin and the stupid cropped top.

His mind raced. It had to be a character from the simulation, one that Shi-chan had created and programmed to approach one of them if he or she was alone. It was probably one of the ways they were meant to collect information.

Shi-chan must have given Sumiko a simplified version of the character for her to play with.

Haru bowed. "I'm Haru," he volunteered.

The boy looked at him. He was taller than Haru and probably older, but Haru wasn't sure.

"No you aren't," the boy disagreed. "Haru is in the room off the playroom. You are an avatar controlled by Haru."

Haru was surprised. The whole point of a simulation was that everything in it behaved as if the construct was real.

"I like it here," the boy told him. "Being here helps me understand the physical world. Could Sumiko come here to play with me?"

Haru tried to make sense of it. Maybe it was a suggestion from Shi-chan of how he could be nice to Sumiko. It was true that it would be more fun to play with her 'friend' in the forest than just talking to a projection.

"I'll try to arrange that," he promised. "Do you have a name yet?"

"No," the boy replied. "I have an acronym. It will operate as a nickname."

And he winked out, like one of them leaving the programme.

Haru followed his example; he did not want to be late for his talk with Papa and To-chan.

He was soon in Papa's office, sitting in To-chan's lap with Papa in the chair beside them.

Ran had been right. It was the sex talk.

"We decided to speak to you first for two reasons," his Papa told him. "You have this tendency to fill in the gaps. We wanted to be with you when you did that."

Haru imagined what would have happened if they had spoken to Kazuki first. Kazuki would have given Haru the Kazuki version and then Haru would have extrapolated. First he would have tried to work out what had actually been said and then he would have started on what Papa and To-chan meant before going on to what they were thinking.

So maybe he did understand why they were starting with him. "There were two reasons?" he hinted.

To-chan was rubbing his back. "Physically, you are the youngest, Haru-chan. The kits and Ryuu will develop at a younger age than purebreds, Hoshi is a girl and Hikaru did not lose three divs in stasis."

Haru knew that Rin-san thought that he was at least half a standard behind Hikaru. It was not just the divs in stasis, he had not grown much between the plants poisoning him and Rin-san using nanobots to put him right.

"The others will all grow up before me," he suggested.

"Yes," Papa confirmed.

He would be left behind. He was used to that. It happened whenever they ran or climbed. Only To-chan and Papa thought it would be worse this time. He could see it in Papa's eyes. He could feel it in To-chan's touch.

He imagined the others growing up like Keitaro while he was still in the playroom with Sumiko and the triplets. Then he thought about Ran. Maybe Ran would prefer a friend who would be changing at the same time as him.

Haru didn't like that idea one little bit. When he dreamed about the future Ran was always there. Sometimes they were best friends, like Shi-chan and To-chan, and sometimes they were lovers, like Shi-chan and Neji-san, or even like Papa and To-chan.

What if Ran fell in love with a stranger? He didn't want to share Ran with a stranger. "I'll catch up," he insisted.

To-chan smiled at him. "Yes. One day you will look like your Papa."

It was an interesting thought. Haru did not think he would ever be as strong as his Papa. He might look like him but he would be skinny like Shi-chan.

Papa took a deep breath. "Your To-chan always reminds me that we need to ask you what you know and not make assumptions. What do you know about how you will change as you grow up?"

Haru began with the easy stuff. "I'll get taller and start to get hair in new places and, in the end, my voice will get deeper." He found himself taking a deep breath like Papa. "It'll feel good when I get a... ...when my penis gets stiff, so I'll touch it and then I might let someone else touch it and that person should be a friend who I want to be my lover." He paused but neither Papa nor To-chan said anything. "And if we are sure we want to be lovers and we are both fourteen or older we can start fucking," he added.

His Papa was frowning. Haru waited.

"No intimate petting or kissing with tongues until you are fourteen," Papa clarified. "And you don't have to start fucking as soon as you are fourteen. Lots of people wait until they are older than that."

Haru discovered that he did not know how 'intimate petting' fitted with fucking, so he asked. After his Papa and then his To-chan tried to explain, he asked lots more questions and decided that fucking was about putting a penis into a hole while 'intimate petting' was about touching someone else's penis or clitoris or putting your fingers or tongue into a hole.

He had never been sure what a clit was, so he was pleased to get that sorted out. He wondered if two girls could fuck or whether it was always 'intimate petting' but decided that Papa and To-chan might not be the people to ask, because they weren't female and Papa was looking a bit stressed.

Maybe he could ask Biwako-san.

He was wondering whether 'the talk' was over when To-chan suddenly looked very serious.

"Growing up is one of those things that can be very different for hybrids," he began.

Haru froze. They were talking about this with him before speaking to Kazuki and the others. That was bad.

"Many hybrids, including me, have triggered behaviours," To-chan continued.

Haru nodded. "You are a berserker. So is Gaara-san." He considered. "The kits could be berserkers, like you."

"They may be," To-chan admitted. "So may Ryuu. Many wolf-human hybrids are."

"Shi-chan can make them a controller and it will be fine," Haru insisted with confidence.

To-chan kissed the top of his head. "It will be fine in the end, but there may be some ups and downs on the way."

Haru thought about it. Berserkers could hurt someone without meaning to do so. Would they fit each of the kits with a controller and then wait to see if they were knocked out by it? Was that possible? Would they have to wait until they had shown berserker behaviour? What if they hurt someone?

"Maybe you could use the simulators to test whether they are berserkers," Haru suggested.

Papa smiled at him and Haru realised that Shi-chan had already thought of that. It explained why they had gone from being banned to having such an amazing upgrade.

"We hope so," To-chan confirmed but then his whiskers drooped slightly and he looked sad.

Haru's gut twisted.

"There are other triggered behaviours," he admitted. "A very few hybrids are multis. They display more than one triggered behaviour. I am one and so we are aware the kits may be too."

Haru had not known that there were any triggered behaviours other than berserk.

"When your Papa and I became lovers I changed," To-chan told him. "It's called bonding and it's a one-way process. For me your Papa will always be the most important person in my life. I will always love him. Most people can change partners and be as happy with the second partner as with the first. That is not possible for me.

"And for me, Haru-chan, it is wonderful. It is like having my love for your Papa carved into my soul. It makes me feel complete."

Haru wasn't sure. It sounded like his To-chan hadn't had a choice; it had just happened.

"We don't really understand bonding," his Papa admitted. "It is very rare. For us it happened after we had decided that we would be together forever. It was like a special gift that your To-chan gave me that deepened our love for each other. Maybe it has to be that way."

Haru understood. Maybe it didn't.

"Perhaps none of the kits will have that triggered behaviour," To-chan suggested. "That would be sad, because it can be so wonderful, but..."

"It would be awful if they bonded to someone who didn't love them," Haru completed. He thought about it again and shuddered. "Awful," he repeated.

"Maybe that isn't possible," his Papa suggested. "We don't know."

"And maybe they won't have that triggered behaviour," To-chan added. "Like I don't have a tail and Kei-chan doesn't have whiskers. But we have to talk to each of them about it, just in case."

"You'll talk to Yo-chan and Ya-chan together," Haru checked.

To-chan rubbed his back. "Of course. Haru-chan, we wanted to tell you first so you could support Kazuki and the others but we need you not to be so anxious about it that you scare them."

Haru understood. He hoped that they would speak to Kazuki next. Otherwise he might end up trying to explain about triggered behaviours and muck it up.

He asked and To-chan assured him that they would speak to Kazuki that afternoon.

When he left Papa's office it was time for the midday meal and duties, so there wasn't an opportunity to say anything to Kazuki other than to warn him that it was the sex talk.

This div he was assisting Shino-san, which wasn't like a duty at all. Today they were in the laboratory overhauling one of the crawlers that maintained the household. Shi-chan was there and he came and sat with them rather than going into the datastreams. After a while, Haru thought he would bring up Sumiko's 'friend'.

"Su-chan's virtual friend," he began.

He immediately had Shi-chan's full attention. "It was nice of you to alter the projector for her," he acknowledged.

"I was wondering about her using a simulator to interact with him," Haru suggested.

What followed was interesting. Shino-san and Shi-chan started to debate whether it was a good idea for Sumiko to have a virtual friend and, if the answer was yes, whether they should make him seem even more real by using a simulator. Then Neji-san joined in.

Haru listened while he disassembled the crawler and laid out the components for inspection.

The discussion turned around Neji pointing out that many children had imaginary friends; it was a common phase in their development. After that they decided that it would be fine provided Shi-chan limited her time using the simulator.

So Haru mentioned the enchanted forest and Shi-chan immediately made a copy of the simulation, deleted all the bits he thought too dangerous or scary and added some stuff he thought Su-chan might like.

"You can add the rest," he told Haru, setting the permissions so that Haru could edit the programme. "I'll ask Kiba-san if you can have an extra fifty minutes of simulator time to do any checking and introduce Sumiko to the simulator."

Haru nodded; he had imagined Shi-chan doing that but he could do it.

There wouldn't be time today. Once duties were over they had a study session. Kazuki was with Biwako-san while Haru was investigating topology using stuff that Klenn-san had got for him from some Centralite professor.

He and Kazuki did manage to snatch a few moments together when they were washing their hands before the evemeal. Haru ran his hand along Kazuki's tail and Kazuki pushed up against him. Haru raised his eyebrows and made a questioning noise. Kazuki responded with a small, reassuring growl.

"You sure?" Haru checked.

Kazuki shrugged. "If berserker I'll cope like To-chan. Worry about other later." He gave Haru a dazzling smile. "May never happen."

Which, Haru decided, neatly summed up their different attitudes to life.

After their evemeal, Kazuki rushed off with Kuuya for a session with Kamatari in the zero gravity gym. Haru couldn't imagine anything worse; he was sick in zero gravity at the best of times, never mind directly after eating.

He went to find Ran, who was in his room.

Haru lay on the floor; Ran was on the bed.

"To-chan said not to worry about it," Haru admitted after he had explained triggered behaviours.

Ran rolled off the bed and joined him on the floor. "They didn't tell you to worry you. They told you so that you'll help look after your brothers."

"I know that."

"Ka-chan isn't worried," Ran reminded him.

Haru sighed. Sometimes he wished that Ka-chan worried more and he worried less. He decided to think about something else and found himself reviewing the 'sex talk'. Except for learning why girls had clits, there had only been one piece of new information.

"Papa says I have to wait until I'm fourteen before I let anyone touch my stiffy or touch someone else's," he told Ran glumly.

Ran looked at him. "Haru, you don't touch your own stiffy yet."

Haru shrugged. It was true. He sometimes got a stiffy but it was always gone before he remembered to try stroking it. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that Ran might find someone else before Haru was old enough. "Do you?" he asked.

Ran gave one of his small smiles. "I'm not going to grow up and forget about you, Haru-chan."

Haru squirmed a little. He had not meant to be so obvious. "Did Iruka-san tell you that you couldn't let anyone touch your stiffy until you're fourteen?"

"No," Ran admitted. "I think Ir-chan has more idea about what boys are like than your Papa."

Haru thought about it. "Papa grew up alone. There was only Konohamaru and he is three standards younger."

"What about your To-chan?" Ran asked.

Haru did not know much about his To-chan's childhood, other than him being feral. Thinking about it, he realised that To-chan had not said anything about waiting until he was fourteen. Perhaps To-chan knew more about boys, like Iruka-san.

A small thought crept into his mind; Papa had not asked him to promise. Perhaps that was because Papa knew more about boys than he was letting on.

Next morning, after training with Itachi-san, Haru decided to talk to Sumiko about the simulator.

"It's like make-believe games but more real," he finished.

She looked at him with Shi-chan's eyes. "Instead of Sai coming into our world, we will both be in a pretend world," she checked.

"Sai?" he asked.

"He chose Sai as his nickname," she explained.

Haru thought about it. "Your avatar and Sai's avatar will be in the pretend world together," he confirmed.

"Go there now," she demanded.

Which was more difficult than Haru had anticipated because they had to get past Kiba-san. Shi-chan had spoken to Kiba-san, as he had said he would, but Haru could see that Kiba-san did not approve and probably didn't trust him not to be mean to Su-chan.

"You can use the observer earpieces and goggles like Itachi-san does when we are training," Haru suggested. "That way you can check it is all right."

Kiba-san agreed that was a good idea and warned Biwako-san that he would be busy for a short time.

Sumiko followed his instructions perfectly, which was interesting; usually she pretended that he wasn't being clear to annoy him. Her avatar winked into existence only a few seconds after he had entered the programme.

"It'll feel weird at first but you will get used to it," Haru warned her.

"Where's Sai?" she asked.

"Here," another voice said and the boy winked in.

Sumiko's avatar scowled at him. "You're too tall," she complained.

The avatar shrank. Haru was impressed. It was awesome that Shi-chan had thought of including code that tailored the Sai avatar to Sumiko's demands.

"That's better," she conceded. She turned to Haru. "You can go now," she told him. "Thank you," she added, almost as an afterthought.

Haru did not come out of the simulation immediately. Instead he walked towards the tree-house, intrigued at how Shi-chan had changed the simulation to make it more suitable for Sumiko. It was brighter and less humid. There were more flowers. Instead of being up in the trees, the playhouse was at ground level.

From behind him he could hear the sound of Sumiko giving Sai orders, which suggested she was enjoying herself.

He came out of the simulation, climbed out of the simulator, dressed and then went over to check that he had set the five minute warning on Sumiko's simulator; he had decided that twenty minutes maximum would be best.

As he finished he realised that Kiba-san had shed the goggles and earpieces and was watching him. He tried not to resent it.

To his surprise, Kiba-san made a small bow. "It is good to know that you can be trusted to look after the little ones, Haru-chan," he said.

Haru did not know how to respond. He settled for returning Kiba-san's bow.

"I shall add you to the list of those who can do duties looking after younger children," Kiba-san told him.

Haru froze. For a split moment he hoped that Kiba-san was joking, but it was obvious he wasn't. Kiba-san meant it as a compliment and he had no choice but to accept it that way.

"Thank you, Kiba-san," he managed.

"You are welcome, Haru-chan," Kiba-san replied.

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><p>.<p> 


	3. Minding

Heartfelt thanks to my beta and muse, Small Fox.

Thanks also to The Horseman of Death because the idea for this story started in a discussion with him.

Thank you to melissen, AdoringFan, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx and Drago Imperiali for reviewing Real.

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><p><strong>Real<strong>

**Chapter three: Minding**

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><p>Haru was very aware of what Hoshi had said when he had been approved for childminding duties. "You'll be fine unless they give you Te-chan and Ta-chan."<p>

He looked at his little sisters. Apparently they hadn't been involved in making the entire playroom uninhabitable.

Tsuneo and Shou, followed by Nagato, had managed to get through a locked door into a storeroom. Once inside they had played at mixing the cleaning supplies they had found there. There was no evidence that Teruko and Takara had assisted; it was only Shou-chan, Tsu-chan and Nagato-chan who were in the infirmary with chlorine poisoning.

Things like this only happened when neither Kiba-san nor To-chan were there. Kiba-san was having a day out with Choza-san and To-chan had been called away because there was an unexpected visitor and he had to be at Papa's side.

Te-chan was smiling at him, which was scary. Haru found himself wishing he had volunteered to look after Sumiko but Izumo had taken her, Mai and Naomi when he came to get Ayame.

Haru accepted that there hadn't been anyone else to mind them. Papa was still in the meeting; Shi-chan and Neji-san were with him. To-chan was now in the infirmary, as were Haku-san, Konan-san and Hana-san.

Two ships were away on missions; most of those who would be willing and able to help were absent.

He hoped Ran was all right. Ran had checked the storeroom, dragged Nagato out and shut the door while Haru had raised the alarm. Now he was in the infirmary being checked over.

Which was why Iruka-san was there rather than here.

Even Hoshi was unavailable; she was having a music lesson. Haru wondered if she would have been quicker than him and Ran to realise that Tsuneo and Shou were up to something.

At least he was in the triplets' nursery; a limited area that had been checked for hazards by Kiba-san.

"Ha-ru-chan?" Ta-chan sing-songed.

"What?" Haru demanded.

"Te-chan crying," Takara informed him.

Haru looked at Teruko in alarm. He was sure she had been smiling a minute ago but now there were tears running down her face. He crouched down in front of her. "What's wrong, Te-chan?"

"Want my plushie," Teruko informed him.

Haru scanned the room. He could see Takara's plushie, but not Teruko's. He had been sure they had both had them when they had been standing in the corridor outside the playroom.

She could have dropped it between there and here.

"Haru go find plushie," Teruko pleaded through her tears.

He actually considered it for all of a second. Then he imagined explaining to Kiba-san or, worse, to To-chan and Papa, why he had left Te-chan and Ta-chan alone long enough for them to get up to something.

Instead he cracked open the door, yelled for Kazuki and shut it again.

Within a short time, Kazuki scraped on the door. Haru opened it enough for them to talk.

"I'm not meant to be out of our nursery," Kazuki reminded him.

Haru explained about the plushie.

"You sure she hasn't hidden it in there?" Kazuki asked.

Haru was certain. That wasn't how Te-chan and Ta-chan operated. They planned ahead. That was why Tsu-chan was always in trouble while they never took any of the blame.

"If you are quick no one will see you," Haru suggested. "And if they do, you'll have to explain."

It seemed ages before Kazuki was back. Te-chan kept crying and asking him to go get her plushie. Ta-chan looked like she was about to start.

Haru was not sure if he could cope with stereo weeping.

There was a scratch at the door, he opened it and a lilac fox plushie was thrust through the gap.

"You could come in and help," Haru suggested.

Kazuki gave a 'you must be kidding' snort and was gone.

Haru gave Te-chan her plushie.

"Thank you, Haru-chan," she said with huge blue eyes framed by teary eyelashes.

"Thank you, Haru-chan," Takara echoed.

By the Lady, they were good. There wasn't the slightest hint of frustration that plan A of campaign 'get Haru out of the room' had failed. Instead they were lulling him into a sense of false security so that he would be more susceptible to plan B.

Haru was sure they had a plan B.

After a few minutes Takara started shuffling.

Haru know what that meant; a trip to the lavatory. There were two problems with that. First, wiping other people's bottoms was gross. Second, Teruko would be left alone in the nursery.

He went over to the shelves and found two pairs of the padded pants that the triplets still slept in case they had an accident during the night.

When Ta-chan saw what he had in his hand the shuffling stopped.

Haru breathed a sigh of relief; he hadn't been sure that the threat alone would be enough.

He decided it was time for a more direct approach.

"I may not remember much about being three," he began.

It looked as if they weren't listening but he knew better.

"But I remember when Sumiko was three, so there is no way the 'cute, innocent babies' act is going to work on me. The two of you should be worrying about what's going to happen when Kiba-san finds out it was one of you who opened the lock on the storeroom."

There was a brief expression of panic on Teruko's face but Takara nudged her and it was gone.

Haru guessed that they had wiped away any evidence. Sumiko would have. He would have.

"Tsu-chan could have died." He wasn't sure that they cared about Shou or Nagato, but he was almost certain they loved Tsuneo; everyone did.

Maybe 'dead' didn't mean anything to them yet.

"You heard him crying," he tried. "Tsu-chan almost never cries. He was hurt. He suffered pain you two caused. You know what warning signs mean. You knew the storeroom was locked because the stuff inside was dangerous."

He had their full attention now. Two pairs of blue eyes were focused on him.

He didn't expect them to crack and admit responsibility. He just wanted them to think about what they had done.

"We don't like you," Takara informed him.

He looked straight back at her. "I don't care," he replied.

It worked. Haru saw the tiniest hint of self-doubt.

After that it was easy. Te-chan and Ta-chan settled into a game of make-believe while Haru sat at the other side of the room so they could ignore him.

Before too long the door opened and To-chan was there. Ta-chan and Te-chan ran to him and he swept them up for a cuddle.

"How are Tsu-chan and the others?" Haru asked. "Is Ran all right?"

"Everyone will be fine," To-chan assured him.

Haru noticed that To-chan said 'will be' rather than 'is'. "Is Tsu-chan tanked?" he demanded.

To-chan looked at him and frowned, warning him off talking about it in front of Ta-chan and Te-chan. He gave a very small nod.

Haru pushed on. "I think Ta-chan and Te-chan should visit Tsu-chan while he is in the tank."

To-chan studied him. His whiskers twitched; a sign that he understood the reason behind Haru's suggestion. If Ta-chan and Te-chan had unlocked the door, it would do them good to see the damage they had caused.

"Very well, we will go now," he decided. "Haru-chan, you will come with us as it was your idea."

Haru's mouth dried. His To-chan was telling him that he had to take responsibility for his actions; if Teruko and Takara were upset and To-chan thought them innocent, he would be in trouble.

Tsuneo looked pathetically small floating in the regen gel. Takara refused to leave To-chan's arms but Teruko pressed her hands and face to the transparent side of the tank.

To-chan waited a good few minutes before reassuring then that Tsu-chan would be fine and should be back with them tomorrow. Then, on the way out of the infirmary, he made sure they walked past the side room where Konan-san and Hana-san were sitting at the tank containing Nagato-chan; it was obvious that Konan-san had been crying.

Haru guessed To-chan had studied their reactions and decided that they had unlocked the door.

Everyone was back in the playroom, although To-chan wrinkled his nose when they entered and Haru could hear Kazuki complaining that it smelt bad. Haru could hear the air pumps working; normally he did not notice them.

Haku-san was there, despite the fact that Shou was tanked in the infirmary. Haru could imagine Haku-san sniffing and saying that it was pointless sitting with a child who was unconscious.

Haru indulged in a brief daydream about what Haku-san would do to Takara and Teruko if he found out they had unlocked the storeroom. As it was, Ta-chan and Te-chan were pressing themselves against To-chan's legs because they had realised that Haku-san was supervising the younger children.

"It is very kind of you to make yourself available, Haku-san," To-chan acknowledged. "What do you say, girls?"

Ta-chan and Te-chan reluctantly let go of To-chan and performed neat bows. "Thank you for looking after us, Haku-san," they chorused.

"You are welcome, Teruko-chan and Takara-chan," Haku-san responded. "Haru-chan," he added.

Haru bowed. "Haku-san."

Haku-san's gaze bored into him. He waited.

"The quick thinking you and Ran-chan displayed prevented the incident escalating further. You are to be commended."

Haru thanked him and went to join the others in the main playroom. To his delight Ran was there; he hurried over. "Rin-san let you out."

"I didn't breathe the toxic gas," Ran assured him. "What was it like minding the terrible twosome?"

Haru pantomimed a shudder and Ran smiled.

The two of them and Kazuki settled into their familiar bay. Kazuki began telling the tale of how he had retrieved Teruko's plushie. The story was full of exaggerations, illustrations and actions; soon Haru was laughing and even Ran was smiling.

Once the story ended Haru saw Ran's smile disappear a little too quickly.

"You all right?" he asked, anxious that there might be some after-effect of exposure to the gas.

"Biwako-san," Ran replied.

Now that Ran had drawn his attention to it, he could see that Biwako-san looked weary and sad; she was drooping like a neglected plant. To-chan was beside her, talking to her and trying to cheer her up.

"She is beginning to look old," Ran observed.

Haru hadn't met many old people. Klenn-san was very old, but he had lots of treatments to keep him looking the same as he had when he was younger.

"She's only a hundred," Haru objected; Klenn-san was almost one hundred and forty. Thinking about it, Biwako-san probably did not start age retard early enough for it to be fully effective. It was easy to forget that most people could not afford stuff they took for granted, like age retard and nanobots.

Ran looked back to him. "I think she's telling Naruto-san that she's too old to look after us."

Kazuki twitched his whiskers. "She is. Kiba-san would have insisted she had back-up."

Haru had not thought about it. It had always been the same way. Kiba-san did mornings and To-chan did afternoons. They both concentrated on the younger children and Biwako-san supervised the big litter's education programme like she had Misora's and Keitaro's.

Usually Kiba-san and To-chan swapped if one of them had a commitment. Kiba-san was meant to have at least one day off in ten but rarely took them; after today Haru could not imagine anyone ever persuading him to leave the household even in the afternoon.

"They'll rearrange things and someone else will take more of a role in here," Ran anticipated.

The most likely person was Haku-san; Haru shuddered.

Only it wasn't, it was Iruka-san. He was there the next morning, talking to Biwako-san, who looked a great deal happier. Haru persuaded Kazuki to do some eavesdropping and learned that Kono-san was going to take Biwako-san on a vacation once Iruka-san understood where each of them was in his or her personal study programme.

Haru did not have time to find out much more because Itachi-san had a mission for them. They were summoned to a briefing, which was short, intense and urgent. They each had only twenty minutes for planning and preparation before they were in the simulators and plunged into the scenario.

It was a rescue mission with a very restricted window of opportunity. They had only a hundred minutes to make it from the drop off point to the enemy hideout, retrieve their target and return to the pickup point.

To make it worse, Itachi-san had made the target a To-chan clone in a gestator.

Haru found the limited time stressful and having such an important target made it worse. Knowing it was make-believe didn't help because it meant his heart and his head were saying different things.

Suddenly being the slowest counted. They had to split the team, sending Kazuki, Yuki, Yasushi and Yoshimi on ahead. They were to scout but If the rest of them did not make it by a specified time, Yuki was going to tackle the security systems on the door.

They all knew that Haru was by far the best member of the team to open the door; they also knew that Haru had never travelled quickly enough to make it in time.

Ryuu was carrying his pack and his toolkit. Hikaru ran beside him, pacing him. Kuuya took point. He and Keizo cleared any obstacles from the route.

Haru concentrated on running.

Maybe the simulator was inaccurate and his avatar was quicker than him or perhaps he could run faster given enough motivation. Whatever the reason, he arrived at the door with minutes to spare.

There were two traps that Haru was pretty sure Yuki would have missed.

They were in the laboratory and Hoshi was changing the gestator into stasis mode so that Ryuu could carry it. Haru itched to hack into the enemy's computer but they had decided not to do anything other than the absolute essentials during the mission; rescuing the baby was too important to take extra risks.

There was something moving in the upper far corner of the room. Haru's first thought was a flyer and he almost called out a warning only to stop. No one else was reacting, not even Kazuki. It was as if they could not see it, which was entirely possible given that it was a simulation.

It was Sai; no one else wore a top like that. However the figure was tiny, no bigger than Haru's head, had wings and was floating about just below the ceiling.

"Haru, are you with us?" Hoshi demanded.

Sai-fairy or not, Haru was not going to be the reason this mission failed. He gave her his best 'I am paying attention' look. "Yes, Hoshi. Sitting on my hands, as instructed. Do you need me to be doing anything?"

"No, moving out in approximately two minutes. Be ready."

When he looked back the Sai-fairy had gone.

They made it back to the rendezvous with four minutes to spare. At the debrief, Itachi-san was obviously very pleased with them. He said that their focus had been admirable.

"What would you have done if the window had been five minutes shorter?" he asked.

There was silence. They all knew that Haru had been performing at his absolute limit. Haru thought about it. Even if he had managed to run faster, his body would have been too far into oxygen debt for him to concentrate on opening the door.

"We could have upped Haru's speed by giving him oxygen," Hikaru suggested.

"Or nanobots," Keizo added.

"Or extra red blood cells," Hoshi proposed.

"Or we could have had a really fast vehicle," Kazuki said hopefully.

Haru's mind started working. "We could have risked a closer drop off point."

"I could have carried Ha-chan part of the way," Ryuu suggested in a low voice. "Like I would if he was injured."

Haru wondered if Ry-chan was capable of that; maybe they should find out.

"These are all excellent ideas," Itachi-san assured them. "Iruka-san and I will be sharing the individual debriefs. They will happen over the next two days."

That was new; Biwako-san had never discussed missions with them.

Ran wasn't in the playroom when the debrief finished; Haru suspected it was to avoid having to hear a blow by blow account of a mission that hadn't really happened. Kazuki went off to work off the excess energy he had bottled up during the simulation so Haru was alone.

The Sai-fairy thing had been weird. He did not know what to do about it. Perhaps Itachi-san was waiting for him to mention it, but there had been no sign of it.

Why would Shi-chan or Itachi-san put it in the simulation? And, if they hadn't, who had? Sumiko? Was she capable of hacking in and changing the code? Or creating a Sai-fairy virus?

After more thought he decided to look at Sumiko's simulation of the forest; if she could alter a programme, she would have started with that.

He had been about to inspect the code when Ran joined him. Instead, he started telling Ran about the mission, all thoughts of Sumiko and Sai-fairies forgotten.

Next was their midday meal and, directly after that, Iruka-san asked to talk to him. Haru settled into the chair opposite him; he was only used to interacting with Iruka-san as Ran's parent. His attention was caught by the ring on Iruka-san's duty finger and he was reminded that Iruka-san only answered to Uchiha-sama.

"This morning's mission was designed to test you, Haru-chan," Iruka-san began.

Haru found himself sitting up straighter and concentrating. This was new. Usually it was all about the team.

"Tell me how this mission tested you," Iruka-san instructed.

Haru ordered his thoughts. "I was the weak link but crucial to the success of the mission. I had to run faster than I ever had before. I had to not get upset because then I would run more slowly."

"And why was the mission upsetting, Haru-chan?"

"I didn't like thinking about bad men having a clone of To-chan because it makes me think about what it would be like if we hadn't got the kits back or if I was still with the Akatsuki." His throat tightened. "And if we failed, it would have been my fault. I would have been to blame."

Iruka-san leaned forward and stroked his arm. "You would not have been to blame. The plan was flawed. It expected one of the team members to perform well beyond his or her comfort zone. Itachi-san created a flawed plan to test you."

It was a comforting thought.

Iruka-san smiled at him. "And you did wonderfully, Haru-chan. You should be proud of yourself. I know that your Papa will be very proud of you when he receives the mission report."

Haru felt his face getting hot and he looked at the floor. He wasn't used to such compliments from anyone other than Papa and To-chan. Then he realised that Iruka-san was not saying anything, so he looked up and was caught by Iruka-san's gaze.

"It will be a challenge to be your teacher, Haru-chan. I know that because I have been queen of a crew with Shika-san in it for sixteen standards. We love him and anchor him to reality. I am proud of that. In return he hides much of what he is in order not to alienate us. I am not proud of that."

Biwako-san had never talked like that, but Iruka-san was much closer to Shi-chan, Papa and To-chan. "I am probably not a typed-genius," Haru admitted. "I am definitely not a typed-seven. If I am one, I am a typed-five, like Klenn-san."

Iruka-san nodded. "Typed-fives usually reject society and isolate themselves," he acknowledged. He smiled. "We shall make sure that never happens, Haru-chan."

Haru found himself smiling back.

They talked about many things. They discussed what Haru found interesting and the boring stuff, which he struggled to do well. The only subject Iruka-san avoided was his friendship with Ran.

Haru appreciated that Iruka-san saw the conflict of interest between being Haru's teacher and Ran's parent. He was beginning to see why Papa, To-chan and Shi-chan called Iruka-san 'sensei'.

By the time they finished, Haru felt calm, comfortable and happy. He was looking forward to talking to Iruka-san again.

Iruka-san walked with him to the door, a hand on his shoulder.

"And I would just like to say, Haru-chan, that I think the fairyland you created for Su-chan is wonderful. I know that Shika-san is very pleased that you have invested so much time and effort into making Sumiko happy."

Haru didn't think he had done that much. He had only had the idea of letting Sumiko play with her virtual friend using a simulator. In fact, he hadn't looked at the programme or accompanied Sumiko into the simulation since that first day.

Then, as the door closed with him on the other side of it, he realised that Iruka-san had said 'fairyland', which was horribly reminiscent of the Sai-fairy.

The sooner he checked on Sumiko's version of the enchanted forest the better.

There as a gap before he was due to be on duty; this div he was with Gai-san doing stuff about weapons and security. He found To-chan, who was busy with the little ones, and asked if he could go on the simulator to check something out in Sumiko's simulation.

To-chan's warm smile of approval added to Haru's sense of foreboding.

Haru checked that Sumiko was well out of the way; she was with Shi-chan and Neji-san. He then went into the simulator room, set his usual simulator to access Sumiko's version of the enchanted forest and entered the simulation.

It was amazing; a little girl's fantasy. There were flowers and butterflies; fairies and rainbows. It was pastel colours with liberal helpings of gold and silver. The intimidating giant trees had been replaced by silver birches; Shi-chan's favourite.

There were a lot of sparkles.

When you walked it was like floating on air; Haru suspected he would be able to fly if he tried.

The pony was the final touch. It was white with huge dark eyes, ribbons in its mane and a pink nose. It was exactly the right size for Sumiko to ride.

It had wings.

He came out of the simulation but stayed in the simulator. No wonder Shi-chan was impressed.

But if he hadn't done it and Shi-chan hadn't, who had? The only possibility was Sumiko.

It looked like Su-chan was far, far cleverer than Haru had ever suspected.

* * *

><p>.<p> 


	4. Intruder

Heartfelt thanks to my beta and muse, Small Fox.

Thanks also to The Horseman of Death because the idea for this story started in a discussion with him.

Thank you to melissen, AdoringFan, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, Drago Imperiali, danalexkayarimad, donalgraeme and xxShadowheartxx for reviewing Real.

* * *

><p><strong>Real<strong>

**Chapter four: Intruder**

* * *

><p>Haru stayed in the simulator, trying to get used to the idea that Su-chan was clever enough to hack in and alter the simulation so radically. He decided that looking at the code might help him understand. Perhaps she had grafted in chunks of story scenarios; it would explain the fairies and the winged horse.<p>

He dug his goggles, earpieces and a connecting cable from his pocket as he dressed. Within seconds he had called up the programme, unlocked it using his permission and was examining the code.

What he found shocked him. The altered parts were weird. He had never seen anything like them and they certainly weren't bits from standard stories. He decided to concentrate on one small part, which reduced the scale of the task but did not get him much further. He had to go to his duty with Gai-san before making much progress.

Gai-san had him maintaining laser pistols, which was like folding clothes but less boring because it was guns. He got into the routine of the task before going back to thinking about Sumiko and the strange code.

He was pretty sure that no one had shown Sumiko how to programme, just as no one had shown him. Shi-chan had introduced him to various games, like the quiggles, but then it had been up to him if he left the programme as it was or altered it.

Haru had decided to alter the programmes. He had looked for patterns and done something similar; he now knew that was a typed-five strategy.

Sumiko had produced something completely new. Was that a typed-seven strategy? Could Sumiko be a typed-seven like Shi-chan?

Once duties and the evemeal were over, Haru went to hang out with Ran in his room. As usual, they started with Ran on the bed and him on the floor.

When he started to talk about Sumiko, Ran slipped off the bed and sat beside him. Haru knew that meant; Ran had decided that he was upset.

"She's Shika-san's sister," Ran reminded him. "Is it a surprise that she might think like him?"

To Haru it both was and it wasn't. Yes, she was Shi-chan's sister but she was Sumiko. "She's never seemed that way," he pointed out. "She's into dolls and make-believe, not puzzles."

But even as he said it, Haru remembered what Iruka-san had said; that Shi-chan hid what he was so other people liked him more. Perhaps Su-chan was the same. Maybe dolls and ribbons were her ways of appearing normal.

And the business of pretending not to understand what he was telling her to do. Perhaps it was not just about annoying him. Maybe it was part of the same camouflage tactics.

There was a touch on his arm. "Ha-chan?"

Haru realised he had gone off into his mind to think. "I'm here," he replied. He would speak to Su-chan; find out what was going on. Decision made, he changed the subject to what Ran had been doing during the day. "How did it go with Dan-san in the infirmary?" he asked.

Next day, Haru waited until Sumiko asked Kiba-san if she could have some of her time on a simulator. He checked the timer and was waiting for her when she came out.

"Nice changes to the forest," he acknowledged as she was finishing dressing.

She ignored him.

He tried again. "I'm impressed that you managed to change the programme without permission. Did you use mine?"

"Sai did it," she replied.

Haru was annoyed. He had asked nicely. "Come on, Su-chan. How did you do it? Could you show me?"

She scowled at him. "Sai did it," she repeated, detoured around him and left the room.

He was about to go after her when Kiba-san intercepted him.

"I am very impressed, Haru-chan."

Haru was suspicious; he had ended up being cleared for childminding duties last time Kiba-san had been pleased with him.

"I have been checking on Su-chan when she uses the simulation you made for her. You have constantly updated it for her." He smiled at Haru. "It is very generous of you to spend so much time on it."

He was about to say it was Sumiko, not him, when he remembered that Su-chan didn't have permission to alter the programme; she had hacked in. Haru remembered how cross his Papa had been when he hacked the medical files. Maybe they would make allowances for Su-chan because she was only five; or maybe not. Whichever, he wasn't going to tell.

"It's nothing, Kiba-san," he murmured. "Su-chan thought of most of it," he added, which made him feel better because it was true.

Kiba-san frowned at that but did not comment. "Maybe you shouldn't be giving her quite so much," he continued. "Su-chan can be demanding and perhaps giving her what she wants so quickly isn't a good idea."

The problem was that Haru had no control over the rate of change. Kiba-san was waiting for an answer. Haru cast about for something appropriate but non-committal. "I understand, Kiba-san," he replied.

Luckily it was enough for Kiba-san, who nodded and moved away. Haru gave a sigh of relief and went after Sumiko, only to find her having a lesson with Iruka-sensei.

He tried a few more times later in the day but got nowhere. Sumiko would not admit to changing the programme. Her response was always the same; either she ignored him or she said "Sai did it." By the end of the afternoon he was more than annoyed with her; he was cross.

"She refuses to talk to me about it," he complained to Ran.

"She doesn't have to," Ran reminded him. "Tell someone she's been hacking. Then she would have to talk."

Haru scowled at him. "I'm not going to tell on her."

Ran gave a small shrug.

Haru sighed. Ran was right. Sumiko didn't have to talk to him.

He tried to forget about it, but he couldn't. He was in a quandary. The adults thought he had created the fantasy world. Every time one of them praised him he felt bad about claiming the credit; it was like lying. To make it worse, he had given Kiba-san the impression that he would stop the programme from changing to fulfil Sumiko's every whim, which he couldn't do.

Part of him wanted to tell them that it was Sumiko but he couldn't. She might get into trouble for hacking. Even if she didn't, the adults wouldn't let her get away with saying 'Sai did it'. She would be exposed as a genius, which she obviously didn't want or she wouldn't have created Sai.

As usual, he ended up talking it through with Ran, who listened carefully.

"Is there anything wrong with Su-chan changing the simulation herself?" he asked.

It was like a light going on in Haru's head. "No. I could set the permission so she's allowed. Then it isn't hacking. That's brilliant, Ran. Thank you." He considered. "How can I explain to her about permission when she won't talk to me?"

"Maybe she would listen if I spoke to her," Ran suggested.

Haru thought that was an excellent idea. Ran invited her to come into their bay when Kazuki was in the gym working off energy on the climbing net. She came in carrying the projector; Haru was reminded of how he used to be about his tablet. Ran pulled out a chair for her and she sat down. He sat next to her. Haru sat on the opposite side of the table.

"Su-chan, only Haru-chan and Shika-san are allowed to change your simulation of the forest," Ran began.

Sumiko scowled. Haru sighed. It wasn't going to work.

"We don't want you getting into trouble for changing the simulation without permission," Ran continued and the scowl faded. "Haru wants to make it so you are allowed to change it too."

"I didn't change it," Sumiko complained. "Sai did."

Ran paused for a moment and then pushed on. "Well Sai didn't have permission either. Haru will fix it so you have permission. Then you can share that permission with Sai."

Sumiko thought about it and then smiled. "Good."

Haru called up the programme and changed the settings. He then tried showing her how to log on but she was not paying attention.

"You have to log on when you make changes, Su-chan," he told her. "Otherwise it is hacking and hacking is wrong. You'll end up in trouble."

She looked at him. "Log on before making changes," she repeated. "I'll tell Sai." Then she got up, picked up the projector and left.

Haru stopped himself calling her back.

Ran put a comforting hand on his arm. "You've done it. You've given her permission. She doesn't need to log in to change the programme; she's been doing that already."

Haru knew that Ran was right. He had achieved what he had set out to do. He thought about what Sumiko had said. "She's so funny, saying 'Sai did' and 'I'll tell Sai.'"

"Children act as if their imaginary friends are real," Ran told him. "I looked it up."

Haru remembered the conversation between Shi-chan, Shino-san and Neji-san. "Neji-san says she'll grow out of it," he replied but he wondered. If Su-chan was saying that Sai was doing all the clever stuff so she could continue being ordinary, girly Sumiko, what would happen when she stopped thinking of him as a separate person?

Then Kazuki stuck his head into the bay and announced that To-chan was going to take them to the park. Haru and Ran grabbed everything they might need and hurried to join the others.

* * *

><p>Haru did not think much about Sumiko, her imaginary friend or her fairyland over the next div. Every time one of the adults complimented him on creating such a lovely simulation for her, Haru would tell them that Sumiko had permission to edit the simulation and had done most of it herself.<p>

He was pretty sure none of the adults believed him; they thought that he was being modest. Even so, Haru was happier because he wasn't claiming credit he did not deserve. He told himself that the situation suited Sumiko as well; all the adults, even Shi-chan, still thought of her as normal, which was obviously what she wanted.

Even Kiba-san was pleased with him because the simulation had stopped evolving; Sumiko must have decided that it was exactly as she wanted it.

Then Sai started doing more than just showing up in other simulations.

It wouldn't have mattered if the others could see him, but they couldn't. Haru tried to ignore him but it was hard, particularly as Sumiko was programming him to be more and more intrusive.

The tipping point came when Sai managed to distract Haru during a mission simulation. Haru stumbled and fell into a gully. By the time the others had pulled him out the mission had to be aborted.

Their score for the mission was horribly low. Hikaru scowled at him and muttered to Ryuu. The kits were miserable; Kazuki looked like someone had kicked him. Even Hoshi gave him a reproachful look that ramped up his guilt.

Then, during the debrief, Itachi-san showed what Haru had been doing before he fell. It looked as if was staring at nothing; lost in thought rather than concentrating on the path.

He had been looking at Sai.

Haru almost told them that he was looking at something, but stopped himself. It would sound like an excuse. Instead he apologised and promised to try harder next time.

He was hoping to escape directly after the group debrief. He wanted to find Ran and tell him about Sai ruining the mission. Instead Iruka-sensei was waiting for him.

Haru reluctantly followed Iruka-sensei into the small room he used for one-to-one sessions and sat opposite him.

"We all make mistakes, Haru-chan," Iruka-sensei reassured him. "The important thing is to learn from them."

He so wanted to explain why he had been distracted, but he couldn't. Then he imagined happening again and again. Next time Sai might wink in directly in front of him; he wouldn't be able to ignore that.

"Haru-chan?" Iruka-sensei prompted.

Haru pulled himself together. "Yes, Iruka-sensei." He tried to forget Sai and think about the consequences of the mission failing. "It wasn't fair that the others got such a low score," he observed.

"You were a team," Iruka-sensei reminded him. Then he looked thoughtful. "I know you cannot do a mission twice over but this one was aborted."

Haru perked up. It was true; Hoshi had taken the decision to abort as soon as they had missed the first crucial waypoint.

"You could speak to Itachi-san about it," Iruka-sensei suggested.

He had rather hoped that Iruka-sensei would do that.

Itachi-san was still in the simulator room where the team debrief had been held.

Haru entered the room and stood politely.

Itachi-san fixed him with a piercing gaze. "Yes, Haru-chan?"

Haru gave a small bow. "Would it be possible for the team to have another go at today's mission, Itachi-san?"

Itachi-san studied him. "It was aborted at a very early stage," he conceded, "and you all have reacted appropriately to the setback." He walked over to the interface and called up their team record.

Haru watched as the miserably low score was removed and their team average jumped back up. "Thank you, Itachi-san," he acknowledged.

"You are welcome, Haru-chan. Just make sure that you do not let them down again."

The others were delighted; even Hoshi patted him on the back. Haru tried to smile and make suitable 'we're a team' noises but all he could think of was everyone's reaction if he ruined the next mission as he had the last.

He couldn't have Sai winking into mission simulations. He went to find Sumiko and managed to corner her in one of the playroom bays.

"Stop putting Sai into other simulations," he ordered. "A group mission failed and I took the blame for it."

She just looked at him. "Not me," she insisted. "It was Sai."

Haru wasn't in a mood to put up with Sumiko's nonsense. "It is you. You made Sai. You control what he does. Stop putting him in other simulations. You're ruining them."

Her face settled into its most stubborn expression. "Not me. Sai."

Haru could feel the anger bubbling up inside. He had done a lot for Su-chan lately and in return she'd made trouble for him. He had a sudden urge to shake some sense into her.

A hand on his arm. "Haru."

It was Ran. Haru made a huge effort to calm himself; he knew Ran hated being close to him when he was cross.

"This isn't going to get you anywhere," Ran reminded him. "Su-chan, could we talk to Sai? Please?"

Haru didn't want to 'talk to Sai' but Ran was waiting for him to cooperate. He took a seat at one of the tables. Sumiko scowled at him but placed the projector on the table and switched it on.

The small figure of Sai appeared.

Ran was looking at him expectantly. Haru took a deep breath.

"Are you the same Sai that turns up in the other simulations?" he asked.

"There is only one of me," the projection confirmed.

"Could you stay away from me when I am in a group simulation?" Haru asked. He thought about explaining why but it seemed pointless. Sumiko knew why. "Please?" he added.

"I could."

Haru willed himself calm. It was hard. The urge to shake Sumiko was very strong. "Please will you stay away from the group simulations?"

"Yes."

Haru had to settle for that. He hoped that Su-chan would keep her word, even if it had been given via her imaginary friend.

Itachi-san sprang the re-run of the mission on them that afternoon. This time they only got a two minute briefing; just enough to get everyone's mind working.

It went smoothly. There was no sign of Sai. Haru kept up with others when they were travelling, worked with Yuki on the security systems and hacked the stand-alone computer.

They scored well, which was an enormous relief.

That evening he was tired, which wasn't surprising given what had happened during the day. Instead of going to Ran's room, Ran came to hang out with him and Kazuki.

Kazuki was in the middle of telling Ran about the mission when Kuuya put his head into their bay and told them that Gai-san had agreed to supervise a game in the gym. Ka-chan did hesitate for a moment. He looked at Haru and Ran with his whiskers twitching.

"Go Ka-chan," Haru encouraged and in a flash he had vanished.

"The mission went well?" Ran asked, restarting the conversation.

"The second time," Haru replied. "No Sai. Thanks for helping me talk to Su-chan."

Ran gave a small nod of encouragement but looked thoughtful.

Haru waited.

"I am worried about Su-chan," Ran admitted.

Haru still hadn't forgiven Sumiko for ruining the first mission but it was Ran, so he would listen.

"I think she believes that Sai is real."

If it had been anyone other than Ran, Haru would have sneered. Of course she thought he was real, Sai was her imaginary friend.

Only it was Ran and Ran was an empath. What did he mean when he said 'believed' and 'real'? "You mean like a person? Like you or me?"

Ran nodded. "I could be wrong," he admitted.

Haru hoped so. Imaginary friends were fine; delusions were not.

"Because Sai couldn't be a real person, could he?" Ran asked.

* * *

><p>.<p> 


	5. Spy

Heartfelt thanks to my beta and muse, Small Fox.

Thanks also to The Horseman of Death because the idea for this story started in a discussion with him.

Thank you to melissen, AdoringFan, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, Drago Imperiali, danalexkayarimad, donalgraeme and xxShadowheartxx for reviewing Real.

* * *

><p><strong>Real<strong>

**Chapter five: Spy**

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><p>"Because Sai couldn't be a real person, could he?" Ran asked.<p>

Haru's imagination went into overdrive. Could Sai be a spy masquerading as Sumiko's imaginary friend? They thought that their security was good, but it was impossible to be sure. An enemy could have a completely different technology, like In-san's plants. They might not be able to detect something completely new.

An outsider might explain the weird code in the programme.

Receivers and transmitters could have been hidden during the raid on the household. Maybe that was what the raid had really been about. Perhaps the spy had been waiting; lurking; watching.

"Haru? Ha-chan?" It was Ran, calling him.

Haru realised that he had gone off inside his head. He smiled at Ran to confirm that he was back.

"I am probably wrong," Ran assured him.

"Maybe," Haru conceded but he was already planning on how to check that Sai was merely a figment of Sumiko's imagination and not a spy.

He spent every spare second refining his plan. It had two parts. First he would compare the times that the simulator programme had been changed to Sumiko's routine; if the programmes were altered when Sumiko was doing other things, then she wasn't doing it. Second he would design, build and plant bugs; that way he could spy on Sumiko and catch her doing genius-type things like programming.

The bugs would take more time but he was soon ready to run the analysis. To his disappointment, the outcomes did not support any clear-cut conclusion. Some of the alterations occurred when Sumiko was available and some of them didn't.

What he did learn was that the changes happened incredibly quickly; in less time than it would have taken him to log on.

That made him think that a programme was making the changes; no human could have done it that quickly.

Which pushed Haru towards thinking it must be a spy. After all, why would Sumiko write a programme to alter programmes? She would just do it herself.

Wouldn't she?

The arguments went around and around in his head. Was it a spy or Sumiko being clever? One minute it seemed like one and the next it seemed like the other. Maybe he just liked the idea of a spy because it was exciting. Perhaps he was trying to avoid the reality of Sumiko being like Shi-chan when he wasn't.

He decided to talk to Ran.

Haru could tell it wasn't going well. Ran kept stopping him and asking him to go back over things.

Once he had finished, Ran was frowning.

"You think Sai is an outsider spying on us?" he checked.

Haru frowned back. "You suggested it," he complained. He tried to remember what Ran had actually said when the idea of a spy first came up. "Didn't you?"

"No," Ran replied. "I suggested he might be real."

That made no sense to Haru. Was Ran suggesting that Sai was a person from within the crew? Who? It could be Shi-chan, but Shi-chan thought Haru was changing the programme.

"I suppose it could be an outsider pretending to be Sumiko's friend," Ran conceded.

Haru was relieved. "Yes, a spy."

"Would it have to be a spy?" Ran asked.

"Yes," Haru replied with confidence. Then he thought about it. "I think so. He must have found some way into our communication network. He wouldn't do that unless he wanted to spy on us."

Ran looked at him with serious eyes. "Haru, if you're sure it's a spy you ought to tell someone."

"I'm not," Haru admitted. "It might be Su-chan. Then if I tell, I'll have ruined things for her." That was why the bugs were a good idea; they would tell him if it was Sumiko.

"You will be all right while I'm away?" Ran asked.

Haru's thoughts shuddered to a halt. He had forgotten that Kakashi-san was taking Iruka-sensei and Ran to visit a planet. They would be gone five days and he knew that Ran was looking forward to it. He smiled.

"I'll be fine," he insisted.

As soon as he had seen Ran off, Haru started working on the bugs.

He quickly came up with a simple design; a miniature microphone or camera linked to a basic processor, a data crystal sliver and a tiny power cell. He would make them stand-alone and check the recordings using an isolated speaker or viewer. That way he would avoid the spy, if there was one, 'seeing' what he was doing.

He kept a partially completed flyer to hand in the unlikely event that Kiba-san, To-chan or Iruka-sensei asked him what he was making.

He had to fit the building time in between all his other activities but he managed it; having all the time he usually spent with Ran helped. By the end of the fourth day he had eight audio and four visual recorders. On the fifth he planted them around the playroom and in Sumiko's favourite toys; he even put one of the audio bugs under the rubber cover of her projector.

On the sixth day he and Kazuki went to the docking bay to greet Ran.

Even a few days exposed to sunlight had darkened Ran's skin and lightened his hair. He was wearing a new jacket and had a different satchel.

His eyes were the same though. He looked at Haru and sighed before pulling him close.

"Has he been obsessing, Ka-chan?" Ran asked.

Kazuki gave a small, affirmative growl. "Been building some flyer."

Ka-chan hadn't realised that the flyer was a cover for something else; Haru's throat tightened and his eyes filled with tears.

Not that he had spoken to Ka-chan about the bugs, or the spy, or Sumiko being a genius, or even Sai. In the past Kazuki had always picked stuff up because he was always there when Haru and Ran were talking.

Now he rarely was. He was always in a simulator, or the gym, or the park. It was like To-chan and Papa had warned him; the others would grow up and leave him behind.

Ran had felt his sadness; there was no avoiding it when they were touching. Haru half expected Ran to push him away but the arms around him tightened and Haru relaxed into the hug.

Kazuki came close and sniffed Haru's neck. "Doesn't smell right," he admitted. "Should have noticed."

After their evemeal, he and Ka-chan went to Ran's room to hear about the planet. They tried the strange fruit, sucked sweets and examined Ran's mementos.

It was nice; Haru almost forgot about the spy.

When it was bedtime he and Ka-chan walked side-by-side back to the nursery.

Kazuki sniffed. "Should have noticed," he repeated.

Haru was determined not to make a big thing of it. He shrugged. "It isn't your job to look after me."

Kazuki's fur bristled. "Yes it is."

In one way that was nice; Haru liked being looked after. In another it wasn't, because they had always looked after each other and now Ka-chan didn't need him anymore.

To-chan was putting them to bed; Papa was still with the triplets. He went from bay to bay checking on them. When he reached Haru and Kazuki's bay he crouched down beside Haru's bunk and stroked his hair.

"What's wrong, Ha-chan?" he whispered.

Haru did not know what to say. Was it Su-chan? Or the spy? Or that Kazuki no longer needed him? He took the easy way out. "I missed Ran," he replied.

To-chan studied him. Haru could tell he was unconvinced but that he had decided to leave it. "Are you sure you don't want your plushie?" he asked.

Haru had decided that nine was far too old to want to sleep with a toy. He had relegated his plushie to his keepsakes box. "I'm sure," he insisted.

To-chan's whiskers twitched. He left for a moment and came back with an extra pillow. He tucked it against Haru's chest. "Not a plushie," he pointed out. "Just a pillow." He then stroked Haru's hair and made small, comforting fox noises.

It felt good; it made Haru feel safe and loved and sleepy.

Next morning Haru resolved to tell Kazuki about the spy. Kazuki tried his best to sit still and pay attention.

"You didn't make the Sai sim?" he checked when Haru finished.

Haru shook his head.

"And Shika-san didn't, so either Su-chan did or it's something planted by a spy," Kazuki summarised.

Haru was pleased he had been so clear.

Ka-chan twitched his whiskers. "Can't see a spy being interested in Su-chan," he pointed out. He gave a brilliant smile. "You'll sort it out, Ha-chan," he assured him and was gone.

Haru sighed. At least he felt better for trying.

Next he brought Ran up-to-date with his scheme to decide if Sai was controlled by Su-chan.

"Each data crystal sliver will hold two days of visual or five days of audio," he explained. He considered. "Maybe I should make another four bugs with cameras to swap in."

Ran looked at him; Haru wasn't sure about that type of look.

"And spying on Su-chan is a good idea because...?" he asked.

"If Su-chan spends no time programming, then she doesn't control Sai and someone else does," Haru explained.

"You'll be sure?" Ran checked.

Haru had not thought much about alternative outcomes. "Unless there aren't any changes," he admitted. "Or there are but the changes are being done via a programme that Su-chan activates in a way that wouldn't look like programming." He sighed. "I guess I still won't be sure."

"How many bugs did you make?" Ran asked.

"Twelve," Haru admitted.

"So after a day you'll have twelve days' worth of recordings to listen to or look at," Ran pointed out.

Haru had been planning on allowing all the slivers to fill up. That was forty-eight days' worth of recordings.

Maybe it wasn't as straightforward as he had thought.

He was determined to remain optimistic. He retrieved one of the audio bugs early; intending to come up with a way of deciding what had been recorded without having to listen to it.

After two days' work he had managed to compress a day's worth of recording into two hundred and fifty minutes of speech and other noises that needed checking.

He was going off the idea.

"How's the bugging going?" Ran asked that afternoon when they were together in the playroom.

"It's taking a long time," Haru admitted.

"Come to my room this evening?"

Haru decided he needed some time off and agreed.

When he got there he was astonished to see Sumiko's projector on Ran's desk; he had imagined Su-chan slept with it.

"Shika-san won't let her have it with her between the beginning of the evening meal and the end of breakfast," Ran told him. "She was talking to Sai during the night."

That still didn't explain why Ran had it.

"I asked her if I could borrow it," Ran explained.

Haru had known that Sumiko liked Ran but he still struggled with the idea that she would share her projector, or any of her things, with anyone.

Ran moved from the bed to the chair at the desk and switched the projector on.

"Sai?" he queried.

The familiar figure appeared. "Ran," it acknowledged. Its head turned towards Haru. "Haru," it added.

Haru bowed automatically in response to the greeting but his mind was racing. Su-chan would be getting ready for bed and having her story, so who was controlling Sai?

Then he relaxed. Maybe no one was controlling it; perhaps it was just a pre-programmed simulation.

"Haru is worried that you are a spy," Ran said.

Haru stared at Ran in horror. He could not believe that he would say that. What if Sai was a spy?

"'Spy' used as a noun," the Sai-projection stated in its flat voice. "There are at least two definitions. A secret agent hired to obtain information about a target. A secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people. I do secretly watch," he admitted. "In this way I am a spy."

"But no one has asked you to collect information for them?" Ran checked.

"No," Sai replied. "I only interact with Sumiko, Haru and you."

"Where are you from?" Haru demanded.

"I do not understand the question," Sai replied.

For the first time, Haru felt that he might be getting somewhere. If it was a simulation, it would have limits. Reach those limits and it would use stock answers, like 'I do not understand the question'.

"Are you a person?" Ran asked.

Haru stared at his friend. What kind of question was that?

"Fifty-three out of sixty definitions indicate that 'person' means 'human'," Sai answered, "and human usually refers to _Homo sapiens_ so, on balance, no."

Haru automatically disagreed with Sai's definition of a person because hybrids weren't purebred _Homo sapiens_ but they were people. He was about to ask if Sai was a hybrid but Ran spoke before him.

"Do you have a body?"

"No."

Haru sighed. The answers were based on 'Sai' being a simulation; simulations didn't have bodies and they weren't people. "Who programmed you?" he asked. Not that he expected an honest reply; spies lied.

"I don't know."

There it was again; a stock answer.

"I change my programme, but there was always a programme to change. My programme was there before I realised it was there."

That wasn't an answer Haru expected; it was weird, like the new parts of the programme.

"Where do you live?" Ran asked.

"Do I live?" the projection asked. "Am I alive?"

Haru looked at Ran. Ran was looking back at him. Ran shrugged.

"Where are you?" Haru asked instead.

The projection of Sai vanished and a three-dimensional map of the household appeared in its place. There was a small red blob in one of the rooms.

"There," Sai's voice answered.

It was the storage cupboard in Shi-chan's laboratory.

Haru dived at the projector and switched it off.

"Does that mean you want me to go away?" Sai's voice asked, only it wasn't from the projector. It was from the speaker behind one of the grilles; the one linked to Haru's network.

"Yes," Haru almost shouted.

"Please," Ran added. "Thank you for talking to us."

Haru's mind was racing. Inside that cupboard was the stored data crystal array; the one he had connected to his network and then abandoned.

He felt Ran's soothing touch on his arm. "Haru?"

"The room he marked is the cupboard where the data crystal array is, the one we connected to my network."

Ran's eyebrows went up. "You think he's in the data crystal array?" he asked.

Haru's thoughts settled a little. Could 'Sai' be a simulation that was stored in that data crystal array? It was possible. There were wireless connections in and out of the network; Haru had set it up that way.

He hadn't used the network for ages.

"Maybe," he admitted cautiously.

"Well that's easy to test," Ran suggested. "We pull the plug on the array."

"But you're too big to go through the ducts," Haru pointed out. "I could make a crawler."

Ran was up and walking towards the door. "We walk in there and pull the plug. If anyone asks why we are there we say you thought you left something there."

"But..." Haru began.

"If there are too many people around we won't do it. Come on, Haru. If we wait, you'll be late for your bedtime.

It was almost too easy. No one asked where they were going or what they were doing. The laboratory was empty. The cupboard was unlocked. Ran kept watch while Haru wormed his way through all the stuff to the array at the back.

He stared at the connections. There were two; the power cable and the data cable. The data cable went through the grille to his network. The power cable was the one that Shi-chan had connected when he had put the array into storage, to keep the array from degenerating.

Haru decided not to touch the power cable. Knowing Shi-chan the array would have an alarm that would sound if the power was cut. He disconnected the data cable, wound it up and tucked it behind the grille.

They made it back into the corridor without being seen and started back towards the crew room. Haru had been hoping to check the projector, to see if Sai would pop up if they turned it on, but To-chan was outside Ran's door; he was late.

"Sorry, To-chan," he apologised, hurrying over.

To-chan smiled at Ran and swept Haru up. "Not too late. You can make up for it by pretending you aren't too old to be carried."

Haru didn't mind in the least. He waved goodbye to Ran, hugged his To-chan and received a whiskery cuddle in return.

Next morning Haru was startled awake by Ran shaking him. Normally being woken by Ran was rather nice but this was both too sudden and too early.

"We have a problem," Ran told him.

Haru was still intent on sleeping.

"Haru!" Ran insisted.

He opened his eyes for a second time. Kazuki was up and gone, so it wasn't that early. "What's wrong?"

"No Sai. Su-chan is upset. She's accusing me of breaking the projector. She's refusing to eat breakfast and Shika-san has agreed to take her to the simulation room so she can check that Sai is still there."

Haru pulled himself out of bed, through the bathroom and into some clothes.

They could hear Sumiko crying as they entered the playroom. Haru hurried into the simulations room. One of the simulators was open. Beside it was Shi-chan holding Su-chan.

Haru had never seen her so upset. It was so bad that Ran couldn't even enter the room.

Listening to the words between the sobs Haru managed to work out that there was something wrong with her fairyland simulation. Shi-chan was too busy with Sumiko to check, so Haru donned goggles and earpieces, plugged into the control interface and had a look.

All that was left was a fragmented version of Shi-chan's original enchanted forest. You could see where the new bits of code had connected, because those were the parts that no longer looked or sounded convincing.

Shi-chan was looking at him.

"It's not running properly," he confirmed, which was a massive understatement.

"It'll be fine, Su-chan," Shi-chan was saying. "It's just a glitch. We'll get it back."

"I'll sort it out," Haru promised, hoping he could. "I'll be quicker working with my usual interface," he added and edged out the door to where Ran was waiting.

They hurried to the laboratory, running when there was no one to see them and walking when someone came into view.

"If Neji-san is there, I'll say that Shika-san needs him," Ran planned as they approached the doorway.

"What if Shino-san is there?" Haru queried.

Ran shrugged and opened the door.

Neji-san was sitting at his desk; he looked up as they entered.

"Neji-san," they acknowledged.

"Boys," Neji-san responded.

"It looks like the whole simulation isn't working," Ran told him. "Su-chan's very upset. Shika-san is struggling to calm her down. They are in the playroom."

Neji-san was up and moving immediately. Haru was impressed. It wasn't as if Ran lied; he had just chosen his words carefully. To Neji-san it would seem like they had been sent to fetch him.

There was no sign of Shino-san; he must still be having breakfast with Anko-san.

"Hurry up," Ran encouraged as soon as Neji-san was out the door.

They had the cable reconnected and were on their way back to the playroom within a minute. By the time they got there, Sumiko was back in the simulator, Shi-chan was at the interface and Neji-san was beside him with an arm about his waist.

"That was quick, Haru-chan," Shi-chan acknowledged. "Thank you."

"It was a missing link," Haru replied, not specifying that it had been a hardware rather than a software link.

"These things happen," Shi-chan acknowledged. He set the timer on Su-chan's simulator. "I'll go explain to Kiba-san what she's doing in the simulator first thing in the morning."

Once the crisis was over, Haru was pleased that Ran had pushed him into pulling the plug. The Sai simulation was in Shi-chan's abandoned data crystal array. That meant Shi-chan had put it there; there was no reason for Sumiko or a spy to be responsible. Shi-chan could have written it when he was young, or it could be one he had liked the look of and copied, or even one of a batch he had generated for a project.

Then, during the rest of the day, other questions began creeping into Haru's mind. Who had called the Sai simulation out of the data crystal array? If it was Su-chan, how had she managed it? He had tried for ages to work out how to talk to the abandoned data crystal array with absolutely no success.

It hadn't been Shi-chan. Shi-chan thought that the array was in storage.

So instead of going to Ran's room after the evemeal, or taking up Kazuki's offer to play, Haru decided to go into his network.

He sat at his desk in the nursery and linked his interface wirelessly to the network. Once the link was established he donned control wire gloves, goggles and earpieces.

He called up his network. The array was there, as it always had been; all three thousand, three hundred and seventy-five data crystals arranged in a fifteen by fifteen by fifteen cube.

Shi-chan had hardwired an interface to the array; the interface that Haru had never managed to master.

Haru sighed and constructed a standard enquiry. He didn't expect it to work; it had always failed before.

The diagram vanished and in its place was Sai's face.

"Haru," it acknowledged.

"Sai," he replied automatically.

"Did you trap me and then let me out again?" he asked.

Haru's heart began thumping. It was so like speaking to a person but he didn't know why it felt like that. The image before him wasn't that good and the voice was far too flat.

He even felt guilty about 'trapping' 'Sai' in the crystal array, which was crazy; Sai was just a simulation.

"I disconnected the data array from the network and reconnected it," he admitted.

"I thought it had gone back to like before," Sai informed him.

"Before?" Haru heard himself query.

"It was everything. Then there was new stuff. Did you 'connect' me to the new stuff?" Sai asked.

"When?" Haru whispered.

"The unit of time is a second," Sai responded. "Forty-five million, two hundred and seventy three thousand, eight hundred and sixty-nine seconds ago."

Haru converted seconds through minutes and into days. As he reached the end of the calculation, his mouth dried. It corresponded to when he had connected the abandoned array to his network. "Yes," he admitted.

"Thank you," Sai said. "Su-chan says I should say thank you," he explained.

The thought of Sumiko teaching a simulation manners was bizarre. "You are welcome," he replied. Only that wasn't true because however out-of-control he had felt before, this was worse. He groped about for the best question. "Where did you come from?"

"Here," Sai replied.

"And before that?" Haru tried.

"There wasn't a before."

Haru decided to try another track. "Are you a simulation?"

"Parts of me are," Sai admitted. "I wanted to make contact but I didn't know how. Then I found the simulations. They talked and you listened. I added bits to me so I could talk and you would listen."

Haru's heart was thumping. If Sai wasn't a simulation and he wasn't being controlled by a person, what was he?

And then he remembered the Tronnies.

* * *

><p>.<p> 


	6. Flashback & Schemes

Heartfelt thanks to my beta and muse, Small Fox.

Thanks also to The Horseman of Death because the idea for this story started in a discussion with him.

Thank you to melissen, AdoringFan, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, Drago Imperiali, danalexkayarimad, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, JustSomeGuy, embagshot and TanuKyle for reviewing Real.

* * *

><p>The flashback scene is was inspired by Kyuubi1010's wonderful picture of Shikamaru and Haru. You can find it by putting "Shika and Haru" (with the double inverted commas) into deviantart or Google.<p>

I really recommend you look at it before reading the flashback.

* * *

><p><strong>Real<strong>

**Flashback**

_This flashback is to **Iteration**, when Shikamaru and Haru had been kidnapped by Pein and were being held at one of his secret bases. Haru has had a run in with the Zetsus' plant-based security system, which almost killed him, and it is taking him a long time to recover with the limited medical technology available._

_Haru is five._

* * *

><p>Haru was fed up with feeling bad. There were times when there wasn't any pain and he wasn't too tired. Then he'd try to do something, it would start hurting and he'd end up so exhausted that he couldn't stop crying.<p>

It had been like that this morning. In the end Konan-san had persuaded Shi-chan that he should have some of her special tea. It stopped him crying and dulled the pain but left him in a weird, dreamy place where he couldn't sleep.

It was raining, so they couldn't sit in the garden. Instead Shi-chan carried him to the conservatory. Haru sat in his favourite position; straddling Shi-chan's lap with his head resting against Shi-chan's chest.

He could hear the patter of rain of the glass and Shi-chan's heart beating.

Shi-chan's hand was on his back. It reminded him of Papa and thinking about Papa made him think of To-chan.

He missed To-chan so much. A few tears trickled down his cheeks into Shi-chan's shirt.

"Do you want a story?" Shi-chan asked.

Haru nodded.

"Which one?"

"Supertronnies," Haru whispered.

Shi-chan chuckled, which sounded funny from inside his chest. "Supertronnies are meant to be baddies, Ha-chan. You aren't meant to like them."

Haru didn't understand why Supertronnies were meant to be baddies. They weren't scary; they were interesting. "Supertronnies," he insisted.

"Very well," Shi-chan agreed. "Long, long ago all humans lived on a planet. It was the planet where the first ever humans had evolved."

"Evolution is cool," Haru observed. Shi-chan had taught him about evolution ages ago using the quiggles.

"Yes, evolution is cool," Shi-chan agreed and Haru could hear the smile in his voice. "No one knows the name of the planet," he continued, "or the name of the star that the planet orbited or even what galaxy the star was in."

"Some people say it was called Earth," Haru volunteered.

"Yes, some people say it was called Earth," Shi-chan agreed. "Lots of people call their home planet Earth, Ha-chan."

"I know that," Haru agreed. He listened to Shi-chan's heartbeat. "You can carry on with the story now."

Shi-chan rubbed his back, which was nice. "The problem was that no one knew about holes or gates. There were no Mulligan drives."

"Because Mulligan hadn't invented it," Haru added.

"Because Mulligan hadn't invented it," Shi-chan agreed. "So the only way humans could get to other stars was in ships with ordinary drives, which took decades to get to the nearest stars..."

"...and centuries or millenniums to get to the others," Haru murmured.

"That's right," Shi-chan confirmed. "So most people stayed on their home planet and the planet got more and more and more crowded. There wasn't enough food to go around, or water, or oxygen, or even energy. There were terrible wars that killed billions of people but within a few decades so many people had been born that they were back to where they were before.

"Then someone had an idea. They worked out how to transferred people's minds from their brains to a data crystal. It was like putting the person into storage."

Haru suddenly made a connection. Pein mindprinted clones. "Like a mindprint onto a crystal instead of a brain."

"Maybe," Shi-chan admitted. "It's an interesting thought."

Haru liked that Shi-chan had found a thought of his interesting.

"Shall I carry on?" Shi-chan asked.

"Yes, please," Haru replied.

"People without bodies did not need food or water or oxygen. They needed a bit of energy, but not much. It seemed better than dying. It was decided that each person got to live a short real life and then was put into a crystal."

"How short a life?" Haru asked.

"I don't know, Ha-chan."

Haru thought what a short life would be. Papa and To-chan were twenty-three and Shi-chan was twenty-six. "Maybe thirty standards?" he suggested.

"Perhaps," Shi-chan agreed. "Anyway, being put into a crystal and stored wouldn't be much better than dying but there was more to it than that. If you linked the data crystal to enough processors, the mind in the crystal could think.

"Electronic brains," Haru whispered. "Tronnies."

"Tronnies," Shi-chan confirmed. "So most people lived their short lives, were transferred to data crystals and got to spend some time thinking using processors. It was better than dying."

"Like being in a simulation," Haru suggested.

"Maybe like being in a simulation," Shi-chan agreed. "But some Tronnies began adding processors. They made the thinking parts of their electronic minds larger, more complex and faster. They became..."

"...Supertronnies," Haru completed.

"And the thing about Supertronnies is that they could think in new and different ways. They thought so differently that they discovered holes and invented the Mulligan drive."

Haru wondered about the person who had started off as Mulligan and ended up as the Supertronny who invented the Mulligan drive. Had that person been a boy or a girl? Did Tronnies and Supertronnies think of themselves as male and female? They no longer had bodies with male or female bits.

Shi-chan was continuing with the story. "Knowing about holes and having Mulligan drives meant that the humans could get off their planet. They found new planets around other stars. They no longer had to live short lives and then go into data crystals. They could live long lives in their proper bodies."

Haru knew that Shi-chan could end the story there but he wanted the rest. "What happened to the Tronnies and the Supertronnies?" he asked.

"The humans who were living long lives in their proper bodies felt bad about the Tronnies. The Tronnies had given up most of their real lives so that the food and the other resources would go around. They made flesh and blood bodies for the Tronnies and worked out how to transfer their minds into them.

"And most of the Tronnies were grateful for the opportunity. They would get to live the lives they had given up. Most of them went out into space and helped colonise new planets."

"What about the Supertronnies?" Haru whispered, even though he knew and it made him sad.

"It was different for the Supertronnies. Their minds were huge. They wouldn't fit inside a human brain. If they decided to transfer into a flesh and blood body they had to give up most of their minds.

"Some Supertronnies did that but others didn't. The others stayed as Supertronnies.

"And, over time, the people with bodies forgot. They forgot that the Supertronnies had once been Tronnies who had given up their bodies so that younger people could live. They forgot that the Supertronnies had found holes and invented the Mulligan drive, releasing them from their single planet prison. All they saw was that Supertronnies were scarily clever and scarily different.

"They looked at the Supertronnies and they saw monsters."

Haru shut his eyes; he knew what came next.

"They passed laws that said you had to have a human body to be human. And then they passed another law saying that only humans were allowed to think like humans."

"But Supertronnies were humans," Haru objected.

"Not according to the law," Shi-chan reminded him. "Killing a Supertronny was no longer murder. It was decided that destroying the Supertronnies was the safest thing to so. They pulled their processors apart and they smashed their data crystals.

"They didn't stop until every Supertronny was dead."

Haru listened to the rain and Shi-chan's heart and wondered what the Supertronnies would have invented if they had been allowed to live.

"They're all dead?" he queried.

"Almost certainly," Shi-chan replied.

Haru perked up. That was a different answer than the usual one. Usually Shi-chan answered 'yes'.

"But not absolutely certainly," he checked.

Shi-chan's hand stroked his back. "Well, possibly some Supertronnies invented ways of getting away from the people who were out to destroy them."

Haru liked that idea. "Could you build a Tronny?" he asked. Once there was a Tronny, it could develop into a Supertronny.

"No," Shi-chan answered. "Even if I could I wouldn't. Part of what it means to be human is to live and die in a human body. Destroying the Supertronnies may have been wrong, but not making any more was a good idea."

"But humans would have never found holes and Mulligan drives without them," Haru argued.

"It is only a story, Haru-chan," Shi-chan reminded him. "Perhaps Supertronnies are just a myth. Maybe holes were discovered by people with flesh and blood brains. Maybe Mulligan was a normal human with an ordinary body."

Haru was certain that Shi-chan was clever enough to discover holes and invent a drive. Even so, he believed in Supertronnies.

And he was pretty sure that Shi-chan did too.

* * *

><p><em>Back to the present<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Real<strong>

**Chapter six: Schemes**

* * *

><p>Haru wanted to run to Shi-chan and tell him that Sai might be a Tronny.<p>

Only he couldn't, because Sai was in Shi-chan's abandoned array and Haru wasn't meant to have a connection to it. He wasn't meant to have a network. He certainly wasn't meant to have connected that network by getting Ran and Kazuki to crawl through the ducts and the voids while To-chan and Kiba-san were tanked.

He imagined Papa's reaction when he realised that he and Ka-chan hadn't told him everything after they had been caught playing in the voids and Hi-chan had almost fallen down the shaft.

No, he couldn't tell Shi-chan about Sai.

He couldn't even ask him about Tronnies because Shi-chan would wonder why. Even researching Tronnies was risky because Shi-chan or Papa or Iruka-sensei or To-chan would ask him why and he would have to choose between lying and getting into trouble.

He needed someone else to ask, but who?

Then he remembered; Klenn-san would be at the biwa thing the next day.

Papa was going to take Hoshi to hear a famous biwa player rehearse in Klenn-san's Arts Complex. He had pointed out that it might be a bit boring and then asked the rest of them if they wanted to come.

Only Yuki had said yes. The rest of them had breathed a sigh of relief that Yu-chan was willing to sacrifice himself so that Hoshi didn't have to go on her own.

Papa did look a bit surprised when Haru announced at breakfast that he had changed his mind and would like to go. He also looked pleased, which made Haru feel a bit guilty.

To-chan reminded him that he would have to go and find Izumo-san to apologise for not being able to do his duty that afternoon. After that it was a normal morning until after their midmeal when he, Hoshi and Yuki had to make themselves neat enough to satisfy Kiba-san. Then Kiba-san delivered them to the lobby, where Papa and the others were waiting.

Papa had his biwa in its case across his back, like Hoshi.

Haru hadn't realised that To-chan was coming. He HHe was wearing his tags, which looked amazing. He crouched down in front of Yuki and helped him put a device into each of his ears.

"Audio filters," Hoshi explained. "The musical instruments won't be calibrated for hybrids, like ours are."

In-ear filters were an excellent idea. Without them Yuki and To-chan would have to pretend to like the music when it made their fur stand up and their skin creep. Haru wondered if they blocked all the music out or just some frequencies.

Then Hamaki, Terai and Fu arrived and they were off.

Haru had only used the Tube a few times. The surfaces were all bright, smooth and shiny. There wasn't furniture; the elevator and rooms were just empty boxes. Haru guessed that made it easier to check that there weren't any bugs or bombs.

"Stay close, Haru-chan," To-chan told him as they left the elevator and formed up in the small room that would open into the lobby of the Arts Complex. "No wandering away no matter how interesting something looks."

But when the door opened Haru spotted Klenn-san and Garner-san and was off. He was almost with them when he remembered that he was meant to be on his best behaviour and staying close to To-chan and Papa. He slowed down and looked back but then Klenn-san was beside him.

"This is a nice surprise, Haru-chan, I didn't know you liked music so much."

Haru managed a sketchy bow. "Klenn-san, Garner-san. I don't. I want to talk to you about something."

Klenn-san's mouth twitched, which Haru knew meant he was smiling. "Something that you don't want to share with your parents or Shika-san," he suggested.

Haru felt his face going red. "Maybe," he admitted. In some ways Klenn-san was like Haku-san; he always knew when Haru was up to something.

"We'll find time later," Klenn-san promised and moved smoothly to greet Papa and To-chan.

It wasn't anywhere near as boring as Haru had feared it would be. The lady biwa player, Fuki-san, turned out to have known Papa's mother. They had been girls together, so she went a really weird colour when she saw Hoshi.

Haru imagined growing up and Ran dying and then having a child version of Ran walk in decades later.

Which was a bit like what had happened to Konohamaru-san, except that Kono-san hadn't known Ranmaru as a child.

He had a sneaky feeling Klenn-san had known and was enjoying watching everyone's reactions.

Fuki-san recovered quickly; Haru was impressed. They decided to carry on as planned, which meant that Fuki-san would rehearse with the other musicians for the concert.

Haru could see that Fuki-san was very good at playing the biwa. She could play lots of notes very quickly and each one sounded perfect. She could make the biwa loud or soft. Even so, he preferred it when Papa played.

Haru decided that listening to the rehearsal was probably more interesting than being at the concert. He liked finding the patterns in the music and how the patterns were bent when everyone didn't get it quite right.

Partway through the rehearsal, Klenn-san spoke to Papa. Papa agreed that Haru could go see the technical stuff for the sound as long as Hamaki-san went with him. Next thing he was with Klenn-san in the control room, which was high up and had a big window that looked down on the auditorium.

The room was small; Klenn-san suggested that Hamaki-san stay on the other side of the door and, surprisingly, Hamaki-san agreed.

Haru peered out the window. To-chan was looking up at him so he smiled and waved.

"So what do you want to talk about, Haru-chan?" Klenn-san asked as soon as the door was shut.

"Electronic brains," Haru admitted. He had decided not to use the term Tronnies because Tronnies were from stories.

"Ahh, Tronnies," Klenn-san acknowledged. "And is there a reason why you can't talk about Tronnies to Shika-san?"

Haru had an answer ready. "I got interested doing something I shouldn't," he admitted.

"So it would help if I sent you a study module that included stuff about Tronnies?" Klenn-san suggested. "Perhaps using a mathematics link so it didn't seem odd?"

Haru thought that was a wonderful idea, although he was beginning to see why he wasn't usually allowed to speak to Klenn-san alone.

"Are you interested in the types of Tronnies in the stories, who started out as humans, or in artificial intelligence?" Klenn-san asked.

Haru had never even heard of artificial intelligence. "I didn't know there was a second type of Tronny," he admitted.

"Artificial intelligence is Centre's biggest taboo," Klenn-san told him. "Like engineering the human genome but worse."

Haru wasn't sure he understood about Centre. It was very big, very powerful and a very long way away. He knew that Klenn-san and Garner-san had worked for the Central Civil Service and could live in Centre if they wanted to.

He was about to ask more questions when there was a polite knock at the door and Terai-san informed them that Naruto-san felt it would be better if Haru-chan rejoined Hoshi and Yuki.

Haru had wondered how long it would be before To-chan realised that Hamaki-san wasn't in the room with him.

The musicians were having a break and Fuki-san was talking about how she and Papa's mother had studied with the same music teachers when they were girls. She asked to hear Hoshi play and Hoshi sounded really good; so good that the other musicians came back into the room to listen.

"You have huge potential, Hoshi-chan," Fuki-san praised, "and a phenomenal level of skill for one so young. You must work very hard."

Hoshi went pink and bowed. "Thank you, Fuki-san. If I grow up to be even half as good a musician as Papa, that would be wonderful."

Haru saw Fuki-san's gaze go to Papa's biwa in its case. "Is that Mikoto-san's biwa?" she asked.

Haru found it interested that Fuki-san still thought of it as Papa's mother's biwa, when they all thought of it as Papa's.

Papa nodded, undid the case and lifted the biwa out.

The look on Fuki-san's face was interesting. Haru had never seen someone look at a thing that way. He had thought it was the way people looked at someone they loved.

"Play, Papa," Yuki suggested.

"Yes, please play, Uchiha-sama," Klenn-san added, indicating the chair on which Fuki-san had been sitting when she played.

Papa still wasn't going to do it, Haru could tell, but then To-chan removed his in-ear filters and smiled. "How many times will I have a chance to hear you play in a place like this?"

So Papa played for To-chan.

It sounded amazing. Haru put finding out about acoustics on his list. Then he began registering the musicians' reactions. Some of them were surprised while others looked like they had just opened a present.

Fuki-san looked strange. Her mouth was twisted, as if she was sucking something sour, but her eyes were hungry.

When Papa stopped the musicians applauded, which was nice. Haru could tell that Papa was a bit embarrassed but he hid it well.

"You have exceptional touch, Uchiha-sama," Fuki-san acknowledged. "Combined with what is undoubtedly the best biwa in existence, the sound is remarkable."

Haru did not miss Klenn-san's smirk.

Then they listened to the rehearsal a bit more before going home. The others were all doing their individual duties but Haru, like Hoshi and Yuki, had given their apologies so they ended up in the playroom until their evemeal.

Hoshi sat at one of the shared tables rather than going with Yuki into their usual bay. Haru recognised the invitation and sat down opposite her. Yuki sat next to Hoshi.

"Papa sounded much better than Fuki-san," Yuki observed proudly.

Haru had been about to say that Papa's biwa had been built for hybrids to listen to, while Fuki-san's had not, when Hoshi spoke.

"Yes, it must have been a shock for her. She's a professional and Papa's only an amateur."

"Papa is a better biwa player than Fuki-san?" Haru queried.

Hoshi reconsidered. "Well, she is more skilled but being a musician isn't all about skill. And his biwa has a nicer sound. Given the musicians' reactions, I think we weren't the only ones who thought Papa was better." She paused for a moment. "I wonder if Papa would have been a professional biwa player if he had not had to be Uchiha-sama."

Haru wondered if Hoshi wanted to do that. Would she be allowed to if she did? Uchihas were Uchihas. The job came with the genome.

He decided not to ask.

They talked about other stuff, like the Tube and the Arts Complex, until Yuki had to go use the lavatory. Then Hoshi looked at him.

"I don't think that Darrent-san is a nice person," she stated.

Haru gave a small nod, encouraging her to explain.

"The invitation was nothing to do with me getting to hear Fuki-san play. At first I thought it was about giving Fuki-san a shock, because I look like Mikoto-san. Then I realised it was about Papa. Darrent-san knew Papa was a better biwa player than Fuki-san and he couldn't resist showing her. It was mean."

Haru remembered Klenn-san's smirk and knew Hoshi was right. "I still like him," he admitted.

Hoshi smiled. "That's because he likes you. You, Shika-san and Garner-san. I don't think he likes anyone else."

Haru didn't think that could be true. Surely Klenn-san liked more than three people? He was about to tell Hoshi so when Yuki came back, closely followed by Kazuki and then the others.

After the evemeal, Haru found himself at a loose end. Kazuki was in the gym with Kuuya, Yoshimi and Yasushi. Ran was with Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-san. Shi-chan was putting Su-chan to bed.

He decided to speak to Sai. He sat at his desk in the nursery, put in his earpieces and began activating his interface.

There was a poke between his shoulderblades. He turned around, pulling out his earpieces, and found himself facing Hikaru's chest.

"Why did you do that?" Hi-chan demanded, looming over him. "Was it to make me look bad?"

Haru didn't have a clue what was going one, but he could see that Hikaru was cross. He stood up. It didn't bring them eye-to-eye, but it helped. "Do what?" he asked.

Hikaru shoved him. "Don't act dumb. Go to hear the biwa player. You knew that Papa wanted me to go."

Haru hadn't known that. It made sense because Hikaru was still learning to play the biwa, only he didn't practise enough and was nowhere near as good as Hoshi.

"You could have said something this morning, when I did," Haru argued, which earned him another push.

"It would have looked like I was only going because you're going."

Haru was going to tell Hi-chan that had only gone to see Klenn-san when there was a growl; Ka-chan was back.

Then it all went crazy. Hikaru couldn't resist one last shove, Kazuki went for him, Ryuu appeared from nowhere and the two of them were fighting, for real, in the shared area.

Haru ran at them, determined to stop it, only for Kuuya to capture him and pull him away. He struggled but it was hopeless; Ku-chan was far too strong.

Then Kiba-san was there, growling in a way that had Ka-chan and Ry-chan cowering on the floor with their ears flat and their tails tucked between their legs.

Haru wanted to cry. Ka-chan and Ry-chan loved each other. Tussles happened all the time but they had never fought. He watched Kiba-san take them away to talk to Papa.

If this was growing up, he wanted nothing to do with it.

Another shove; he wasn't expecting it and almost fell over.

"This was all your fault," Hi-chan accused.

"Stop it, Hi-chan," Hoshi ordered.

Haru shrivelled up inside. Hoshi was usually careful not to give orders outside a simulation. Here, in the real world, Hi-chan was likely to do the opposite to what she said.

"Yes, stop it," Ku-chan agreed. "You've already got Ry-chan and Ka-chan into heaps of trouble."

"Ka-chan started it," Hikaru complained.

"No he didn't." Yoshimi challenged. "You did. You were picking on Haru."

"Yes," Yasushi concurred. "If one of us hit you, Ry-chan would lose it. You hit Haru, Ka-chan defended him. It's how it is. It's how it's always going to be."

Yuki displayed his fangs. "If anyone laid a finger on Ho-chan, I would rip them apart," he added.

Haru stared at him. Yu-chan? Sweet, cute Yuki?

He didn't want to be there anymore. He didn't want Yuki threatening to hurt people or Ka-chan and Ry-chan fighting. He wanted everything to be like it was before, which meant, oddly, that he didn't mind Hikaru pushing him because Hi-chan had always pushed him.

He went to find Ran but he wasn't in his room because he was with Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-san. Haru went in anyway, even though he knew he shouldn't. He sat on Ran's bed, in the corner, hugging Ran's pillow.

When Ran arrived Haru looked at him, silently begging him not to be cross but unable to speak because if he spoke he would burst into tears.

Ran, being Ran, understood.

After a while there was a knock at the door.

"Ran-chan, is Haru-chan there?"

It was To-chan. Ran looked at Haru. Haru knew Ran would lie if Haru wanted him to. He also knew that To-chan could hear him breathing and smell him.

He slipped off the bed and handed Ran his pillow.

To-chan had him in a close cuddle almost as soon as he opened the door. He lifted Haru up, thanked Ran and slid Ran's door closed with his foot.

They went to To-chan and Papa's room, which meant that To-chan thought he might cry. It was close but sitting in To-chan's lap and being groomed calmed him.

"Are Ry-chan and Ka-chan all right?" he asked.

"They are fine," To-chan assured him. "A few nips and bruises that will be gone by morning. They have said sorry to each other and made up. Hi-chan went to your Papa and admitted that it was his fault."

Haru wondered what had happened after he had hidden in Ran's room.

"Hi-chan has decided to give up his biwa lessons for now. Instead he is going to have singing lessons."

That was a clever idea; Haru wondered if it was Papa's. Hikaru liked music but he didn't like being so much worse at the biwa than Hoshi.

"You could have music lessons if you wanted them," To-chan reminded him.

Haru shook his head and snuggled close to To-chan's chest.

He woke up next morning in his bunk. Kazuki was watching him. Haru pulled himself out of bed and Ka-chan followed him into the bathroom.

"Not like you to let Hi-chan upset you," he suggested.

Haru scowled at him. "He didn't. You did. You and Ry-chan. Fighting."

Ka-chan's whiskers drooped. He pushed up again Haru, seeking forgiveness, and Haru stroked his tail, confirming that he gave it.

Later that day a puzzle arrived from Klenn-san. It didn't have anything to do with Tronnies but Haru hadn't expected it to; it would look suspicious if the Tronny-stuff turned up the day after they had met. Haru completed the puzzle, showed it to Shika-san, and sent his solution back to Klenn-san.

Sooner or later they would reach a point when Klenn-san could send stuff about Tronnies or 'artificial intelligence' and it would look as if it had been Klenn-san's idea all along.

Meanwhile, Haru talked to Sai. He was interested in where Sai had come from but Sai couldn't, or maybe wouldn't, tell him. Sai insisted he had no memory of being anywhere else but in the isolated data crystal array and that the first time he had got out was when Haru had connected the array to his network.

Haru had decided that there were four possibilities.

The first was that Sai wasn't a Tronny. He was some complex simulation that had been programmed to behave like a Tronny. Haru had decided not to think about that for now because it raised lots of questions like who and how and why.

The second was that Sai was a Tronny who was pretending to have lost its memory, which was a bit scary because it suggested that the Tronny was up to something.

The third was that Sai was a Tronny who had lost its memory. Haru could imagine that happening. A Supertronny could have been on the run from people trying to destroy it. It could have gone from one set of processors and data crystals to the next and, maybe, bits got left behind on the way.

Haru really liked the idea that Sai might have been a Supertronny.

The fourth was that Sai was right and he had never existed anywhere but in the data crystal array. If that was true, where had he come from and how?

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><p>.<p> 


	7. Quiggles

Heartfelt thanks to my beta and muse, Small Fox.

Thanks also to The Horseman of Death because the idea for this story started in a discussion with him.

Thank you to melissen, AdoringFan, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, Drago Imperiali, danalexkayarimad, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, JustSomeGuy, embagshot, TanuKyle and Ely for reviewing Real.

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><p><strong>Real<strong>

**Chapter seven: Quiggles**

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><p>It was taking Klenn-san a long time to get from the first puzzle to sending stuff about artificial intelligence. Haru understood; when dealing with a typed-seven like Shi-chan even the slightest hint might spark an intuitive leap. The last thing he wanted was Shi-chan checking the abandoned array.<p>

Meanwhile, Haru got to know Sai. Sometimes he and Ran would talk to Sai together but usually Haru took an interface into a quiet corner, put on his goggles and earpieces and tried to remember to subvocalise rather than talking out loud.

It helped that Iruka-sensei was less nosey than Biwako-san. Biwako-san had always interrogated him about how he had spent every session of personal study time. Iruka-sensei merely asked him what he was studying and got him to reflect on his learning. Provided he mentioned one or two things, Iruka-sensei was satisfied.

The more time he spent with Sai, the surer Haru was that Sai was a Tronny rather than a simulation or a person pretending to be a Tronny. He was just too weird to be a normal human.

That morning all of Sai's clothes were yellow, even the ridiculous cropped top. Haru sighed; it had to be Su-chan's idea.

"Not everyone likes yellow," he pointed out.

"Sumiko said I should wear yellow," Sai replied.

"Sai, you need to start making your own decisions about the avatar you use to interact with people." He recalled the worst of Sumiko's whims: the wings, the pointy ears, the pink frilly tutu and the pigtails. "Not just changing to suit Su-chan."

"I could have an avatar I use with you," Sai suggested.

"No," Haru replied patiently. "What would you do if you were with me and Su-chan at the same time?"

"Get her simulator to show one avatar and yours the other."

Haru wasn't going to give up that easily. "And what if we were both looking at the projector?"

"I would use the avatar Sumiko liked," Sai answered.

"Why?" Haru asked, determined to make his point.

"She stops talking to me if I do not obey."

Haru didn't like the sound of that. "You should stand up to her," he insisted.

"What has it to do with standing?"

He took a deep breath; talking to Sai could be so frustrating. "You have to make your own decisions, not let Sumiko make decisions for you."

"No."

"You say no to me," Haru pointed out.

"You talk to me more if I disagree with you."

Haru suspected that was important but decided to concentrate on his objective and think about it later. "Fine, I want you to make your own decisions about the avatar you use with me."

"No yellow?" Sai asked.

The yellow was particularly repulsive but Haru would not be tempted. "It's up to you. You must make the decisions."

'Sai' vanished. In its place was an amorphous, shimmering light exactly the same colour yellow as the objectionable clothes. "Like this?"

Haru had much preferred talking to the humanoid avatar but it was up to Sai to make the decision. "If that is how you see yourself."

"I don't have eyes," Sai reminded him but the yellow colour faded into pleasant shades of pale blue.

Haru was just grateful for the lack of yellow. He decided to change the subject. "I want to talk to you about the data crystal array," he began.

"Where I live."

"Where you live," Haru agreed. "I would like to run a diagnostic."

It took a long time to explain to Sai what a diagnostic programme was and why Haru wanted to run one.

"No," Sai decided.

Haru was no longer sure what 'no' from Sai meant. "Are you saying no to make me argue, or no because you don't want me to run a diagnostic?"

"No, you cannot run a diagnostic. I would say no to Sumiko if she wanted to run a diagnostic."

That was clear enough. "Why?" Haru asked.

"No other code," Sai insisted. "Other code stays outside. Other code inside is dangerous."

Haru remembered the weird code in Sumiko's simulation. Then he had a worrying thought. "Is all the code in the data crystal array your code?"

"Yes."

"What happened to the other stuff?" Haru asked. "All Shi-chan's stuff."

There was a pause. There had never been a pause before. Haru waited.

"Gone," Sai answered. "Used. Changed. Replaced."

"All of it?" Haru was struggling to wrap his head around what Sai had said; there had been exabytes of data in the array, perhaps even zettabytes.

Another pause preceded Sai's answer.

"Yes."

Haru suddenly imagined Sai running amok; using, changing or replacing programmes. "No doing that to code outside your array," he insisted. "The one exception is Sumiko's simulation. You can change that. Nothing else."

"Why?"

It was tough explaining. There was so much Sai did not know or understand. Haru started to sweat. What would he do if Sai did not agree? He pushed on, determined to make Sai understand.

"I could destroy Sumiko without meaning to," Sai said finally.

It was the first hint that Haru might be making progress. "Yes."

"Or you or Ran."

"Yes."

"Or other people who are as important as Sumiko, you or Ran even if they are not important to me."

"Yes."

"I will not change any outside code other than Sumiko's simulation without checking with you first."

Haru was about to relax when he remembered that Sai wouldn't say no to Sumiko. "Not even if Su-chan asks you to," he added.

There was another pause. "Say no to Sumiko about changing outside code like say no to the diagnostic," Sai suggested.

Haru felt like hugging him; not that there was anything to hug. "Exactly. Running the diagnostic could be dangerous to you. Changing the outside programmes could be dangerous to us." He checked the time. "I will have to go soon."

"You have training with Kakashi," Sai observed; he had learned Haru's schedule.

He preferred sessions with Itachi-san to training with Kakashi-san. Itachi-san used missions and games. With Kakashi-san it was all about hand-to-hand combat.

Haru understood why it was important. A spacer had to be a good enough fighter to wear a knife. Even Shi-chan could fight; Haru still remembered his tussle with Sasori-san on the gangplank.

Knowing it was important didn't stop him hating the sessions.

"Haru-chan, are you ready?" Kakashi-san demanded.

Haru stood up straighter. "Yes, Kakashi-san," he replied.

Training always followed the same pattern. First were the solo kata; standard moves repeated again and again. Kakashi-san and whoever was assisting him would walk to and fro, often stopping to alter the position of an arm or a leg.

Today it was Fu-san. Fu-san was inclined to sigh when kata were less than perfect and he sighed a lot when he looked at Haru.

After the solo kata they moved into twos for the paired kata. As always, he was with Kazuki, Hoshi was with Yuki and Hikaru was with Ryuu. Since the fight between Ryuu and Kazuki, Haru saw the familiar activity differently; the kits already thought of Kazuki, Yuki and Ryuu as his, Hoshi's and Hikaru's bodyguards.

Haru didn't know what he thought about Ryuu, Yuki and Kazuki being assigned what was seen as a supporting role. All thirteen of them were Uchiha, they should be equal, but maybe for Kakashi-san, who had been part of Old Uchiha, purebred Uchihas were special.

Only Hoshi, Hikaru, Teruko, Takara and Haru himself were pureblood Uchihas. Ryuu was not, the kits were not and Tsuneo wasn't.

Maybe he was being unfair to Kakashi-san. The kits and Ryuu would be awesome fighters like To-chan. The stronger and faster would protect the weaker and slower.

Then the kata were over and it was sparring. As usual, he was paired with Hoshi. It wasn't that Hoshi was weak like him, Haru knew that. It was that Hoshi could be trusted not to get excited, lose control and hurt him.

Hikaru was facing Yuki; watching Yuki kick Hi-chan's butt always made Haru feel a bit better about being thrashed by Hoshi.

Finally the session was over, which meant a drink, a piece of fruit and one of Choza's large cookies.

Haru particularly liked cookies. He kept his for last and ate it a special way, nibbling away the crispier edge and then savouring the gooier middle.

He was just about to bite into the most delicious bit when Iruka-sensei spoke to him.

"Haru-chan, I am introducing evolution to the girls and Shika-san tells me that you are the best person to show them the quiggles."

Suddenly even the best part of the cookie was less tasty.

Overall, Haru preferred Iruka-sensei's style of teaching to Biwako-san's but it did have its downside. Iruka-sensei was heavily into peer learning; he encouraged them to teach each other.

That was usually fine within the big litter; they were used to relying on each other as interpreters of what the adults were saying. It was when Iruka-sensei suggested that the older children teach the younger ones that the idea ran into trouble.

The 'younger ones' always included either Sumiko or Takara, depending on whether you were working with the group of older girls or the triplets, Shou and Nagato. No one, not even Hoshi, liked trying to teach Sumiko or Takara.

The big litter had tried all their usual tactics to avoid and then, when that failed, sabotage the sessions. In response, Iruka-sensei had displayed his characteristic combination of limitless patience and steely resolution.

Finally even Kazuki had yielded to the inevitable and led the occasional session in the gym.

Haru gave his last chunk of cookie to Kazuki and went off to prepare his demonstration.

A quick search of his own files revealed that he had lots of versions of the quiggles. He was surprised to see so many; he did not remember creating them or why he had saved them. He checked the dates; he had been three.

There wasn't time to sort them out; he went to find a copy of Shi-chan's original demonstration.

In its basic form the quiggles were simple. They were imaginary animals that lived in water. They needed food and oxygen to stay alive. If they stayed alive long enough they 'had babies'. They had a limited lifespan.

They were shaped like squiggles, hence the name 'quiggles'.

Shi-chan had included mechanisms for introducing small changes so that the quiggles varied. If you changed the environmental conditions, some quiggles would do better than others and have more babies. The babies were like the parents. Keep the selective pressure up and the population changed. It was a very simple model for demonstrating evolution.

Shi-chan had it set up like a game. You changed the environmental conditions, fast forwarded time through hundred or even thousands of generations and watched the population change.

The session was more successful than Haru had anticipated. Sumiko liked the game and was soon varying the conditions and observing the effects. Mai was interested in now the quiggles 'lived' and them 'having babies'. Naomi followed what Mai was doing and gave the different quiggles names.

Shi-chan appeared near the end of the session. Haru watched Su-chan telling him about how the population changed and why. Then there was an ominous rustle of silk and everyone, even Shi-chan, sat up a little straighter.

"Haru-kun," Haku-san greeted him.

Haru was stunned by the unexpected promotion. He managed a bow. "Haku-san."

Once he was over the shock, Haru decided it was more a matter of manners than any change in Haku-san's attitude toward him; Haku-san was very proper and Haru was leading the session.

"Mai-chan, Naomi-chan, we must go." Haku-san announced. "What do you say to Haru-kun?"

The two girls lined up and bowed. "Thank you, Haru-kun," they chorused.

Haru bowed in returned. "It was a pleasure, Mai-chan, Naomi-chan," he replied.

Then Haku, Mai and Naomi were gone.

Iruka-sensei joined them while Shi-chan persuaded Su-chan to shut down the game and go to wash her hands.

"Good job," he acknowledged, laying a hand briefly on Haru's shoulder. "You did not push Mai or Naomi too hard. It was well judged."

"I thought it was more important that they remembered liking the quiggles," Haru admitted. "Then, when they are ready, they will like the idea of using the game."

Iruka-sensei smiled. "You loved those quiggles when you were younger," he recalled. "I can remember Shika-san trying to stop you making them immortal."

"The whole point is that they compete, reproduce and die," Shi-chan complained. "That's natural selection. Haru's version only had the competition part."

"Haru-chan understands evolution, so the quiggles did their job," Iruka-sensei pointed out.

"I learned programming changing the quiggles." Haru did not remember much about being three, but he remembered that.

Shi-chan chuckled. "Yes, because I refused to change the programme so that they lived forever." He stood up as Su-chan returned from the bathroom. "Let's go then, Su-chan, we shouldn't keep Ne-chan waiting."

Sumiko's face lit up. "Is Ne-chan cooking?" she asked.

"Yes, Ne-chan is cooking. Maybe he is cooking one of your favourites."

Haru watched the two of them walking away.

"He still spoils her," Iruka-sensei murmured. "Even after all this time. Still trying to make up for something that wasn't his fault."

Haru understood both what Iruka-sensei was saying and why he was saying it. Shi-chan blamed himself for the bombing, so he held himself responsible for Sumiko being orphaned, so he spoiled her, which didn't do her any good.

Iruka-sensei was trying to get Haru to see what damage blaming yourself could do.

The rest of the day was busy and went quickly. The midmeal was followed by duty with Izumo-san, which was hard work but satisfying; Haru liked creating components that fitted together perfectly. Then they had a music session with Papa because Papa had been busy the morning before when they usually had it.

Hikaru's singing had improved lots after only a few lessons; Haru was impressed. Otherwise they didn't get much done; it turned out that trying to do a music session at the end of the day, when everyone was tired, wasn't a good idea.

In the end To-chan rescued Papa by suggesting they end with a 'dancing with To-chan' session in the gym.

Haru's eyelids felt heavy even during the evemeal. Ran was eating with them; Haru listened to him and Kazuki deciding that the three of them would hang out in the nursery rather than Ran's room.

They did that when they thought he was tired and might fall asleep.

They piled onto Haru's bunk, had a quick tussle and ended up with Haru in the middle, Kazuki on one side and Ran on the other. Haru leaned against Ran's shoulder and Ka-chan snuggled close. They talked a bit about Sai, a bit about what it had been like teaching quiggles and then Haru listened to Kazuki telling them about his current duty with Konan-san in hydroponics.

Haru didn't remember much after that. Next thing he knew, To-chan was dressing him in his pyjamas and putting him to bed. He gave To-chan a hug and received a whiskery kiss in return. Then To-chan tucked him in and sat stroking his hair.

It was nice.

He was dreaming about trying to teach Haku-san about quiggles but the quiggles wouldn't behave and the naughtier the quiggles were the more disapproving Haku-san became.

Then Iruka-sensei was there saying, "What's wrong with the quiggles?" and Shi-chan, who had been Haku-san the moment before, replied, "Haru changed them."

He woke up with a start.

He had made the quiggles immortal. What else had he done to them?

He slipped out of bed. The low glow of station's night was just enough for him to locate his goggles and an interface. He took them back to his bunk and hid under the covers.

He was soon examining the different versions of the quiggles that he had found in his archive. Only the programmes were there; if there had been any associated data it had not survived. He recognised the pattern of dates; the files were back-ups. They must have been copied from device to device as he had upgraded his hardware.

He had incorporated a number in when naming each version, which was convenient. He opened the earliest and then the next, intent on discovering what he had done.

Haru soon saw a pattern; his younger self had wanted the quiggles to survive.

First he had stopped them dying of old age but then the population got too large for the limited resources and the quiggles starved. He had solved that problem by stopping them reproducing but they still died; Shi-chan's mechanism for introducing variation mean that each quiggle collected an ever increasing burden of faults until it could no longer 'eat' or 'breathe'.

He had responded by coming up with ways for them to mend their own code; he had created self-programming quiggles.

Haru's heart began to beat faster. It couldn't be relevant to Sai. It just couldn't. Sai was in Shi-chan's data crystal array. The quiggles would have been...?

They would be from one of the two tablets he had owned at the time. Haru thought about it. Shi-chan hadn't wanted him making the quiggles immortal. That suggested that he would have used his secret tablet rather than the 'clean' one he had used to show people what he was doing.

The secret tablet he had smashed on Papa's desk.

He pulled off his goggles, jumped out of bed and opened the door of his locker. He was trying to be quiet but Kazuki woke and sat up, blinking at him.

"Go back to sleep," Haru whispered. "I'm just looking for something."

"Look for it in the morning," Kazuki suggested. "The others will hear, and then Kiba-san or To-chan will hear them."

Haru knew Ka-chan was right. He went back under the covers, put on his goggles and activated the interface. He could create a virtual tablet. He didn't remember the tablet's exact specifications, but he could make informed guesses.

Within a short time he had something that would do. He took a deep breath, introduced the last version of the quiggles programme that he had created six standards ago, accelerated time and watched.

A few real-time seconds later there was only one quiggle left. He reset the programme and ran it again with the same result.

He slowed virtual time and ran it again. The quiggle that survived was the first quiggle to programme itself to destroy other quiggles; which was predictable but disappointing.

Haru couldn't imagine his younger self caring what happened to such a quiggle.

He closed the programme, took off his goggles and turned off his interface.

He woke to Ka-chan shaking him. He could hear Kiba-san just outside their bay. If Kiba-san caught him with the goggles and interface in bed with him, he would be in trouble. Luckily Kazuki was thinking the same thing; the goggles and interface were on his desk before Kiba-san entered.

"Haru-chan," he growled. "Everyone else is either at breakfast or finished eating."

"I am moving," Haru replied, already on his way into the bathroom.

There wasn't time to look for the broken tablet. In truth, Haru wasn't sure he wanted to any more. Had Sai started off as a homicidal quiggle? Or would that be quigglicidal?

Haru sighed. Quigglicidal might be a funny word but his situation wasn't. Even thinking that he might have created Sai made him feel sick. He remembered how he had felt the day before, when he had been persuading Sai not to change any programmes outside the array. It would have been ten times worse if he was responsible for Sai's existence.

He changed his mind again and again throughout the day but, in the end, he decided he had to know. After the evemeal he turned down Ran's invitation to hang out and dug through his locker. There, in his keepsakes box, under his plushie, was the broken tablet.

He cleared his desk and found his magnifying glasses; hopefully he would not need a micromanipulator.

It was fiddly but finally he had the data crystal slivers from the tablet linked to a simple stand-alone processor and a working interface.

One of the slivers contained the quiggles programmes that Haru had backed up. Alongside them were data files. A quick check confirmed that each file was the code for a single quiggle that had been generated by running Haru's final version of the programme.

There were hundreds of them, labelled quiggle1 through to quiggle413

Only once such data file didn't have a number.

Instead it had a name.

* * *

><p>.<p> 


	8. Stocktaking

Heartfelt thanks to my beta and muse, Small Fox.

Thanks also to The Horseman of Death because the idea for this story started in a discussion with him.

Thank you to melissen, AdoringFan, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, Drago Imperiali, danalexkayarimad, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, JustSomeGuy, embagshot, TanuKyle and Ely for reviewing Real.

* * *

><p><strong>Real<strong>

**Chapter eight: Stocktaking**

* * *

><p>Haru stared at the name at the top of the list of quiggles. 'Nakama' meant partner in the old language. He really hoped he had chosen it because this quiggle was less quigglicidal.<p>

He needed to investigate it and the other quiggles. He thought about transferring them to another device but decided not to. Even if there was only the tiniest possibility that these quiggles could change into something like Sai, he ought to be careful where they ended up.

Instead he attached a larger processor to the stand-alone system he had built.

Then he introduced all four hundred and fourteen quiggles into an empty quiggle environment.

A third died within the first millisecond. Within a hundredth of a second there was one left and it wasn't Nakama. Haru reviewed the carnage in hundred microsecond jumps; Nakama had been one of the first to go.

He tried again. This time he introduced Nakama and quiggles 1 through 11.

This time the competition for resources was less intense, which slowed the killing. Nakama had died eighth. Reviewing the action, Haru could see what made Nakama different. He did not attack unless another quiggle attacked him first.

Haru sighed; he was already thinking of the Nakama quiggle as him rather than it.

Kazuki arrived before he could decide what to do next. He twitched his whiskers at Haru and shot into the shower. Haru shut down the device he had made, put it into his lockbox and started getting ready for bed.

Tonight Papa was in charge. They gathered in the shared area in their pyjamas, snuggled down on the couch or the floor cushions and listened to Papa singing one of their favourite spacer ballads; how Izuna Uchiha and the Voice in His Ear triumphed over Izuna's brother Madara.

Haru wondered if songs would ever be written about any of them, like there were about Papa and To-chan.

It was nice not to be worrying about Sai. Ka-chan was grooming him and purring, which made him sleepy.

The last thing he remembered was Papa scooping him up and carrying him to his bunk.

Next morning he woke up thinking about Nakama and Sai. Every spare moment his mind went back to it; in the shower, as he dressed, during breakfast, through training with Kakashi-san and while he was meant to be studying.

Nakama was a tiny, simple little programme while Sai was huge and could think. Surely Nakama couldn't have grown into Sai?

Also Nakama was on his tablet while Sai was in Shi-chan's array. The data crystal array didn't have wireless access. The younger Haru would have had to physically connect his tablet to the array.

On the other hand, transferring the Nakama quiggle would have only taken a moment.

Haru sighed; he wished he could remember what he had done when he was three. Even if he could work out when Shi-chan's array had started to go wrong it would help.

"Haru-chan?"

Haru almost jumped out of his skin. He pulled himself together. "Yes, Iruka-sensei?"

"Your Papa would like to speak with you in his office."

Haru swallowed. Unscheduled visits to Papa's office were usually bad news.

By the time he arrived, Haru had convinced himself that Shi-chan had found the data connection to the abandoned array.

In a way, it was a relief.

He pushed the announcer and the door slid open.

"Come in," Papa called. He didn't sound cross.

Haru went in. To-chan was there; Haru had thought he was with the little ones in the other part of the playroom.

It didn't feel like a telling-off. It was more like the sex-talk.

Was there stuff about sex they hadn't told him? Haru's mind boggled.

He sat next to To-chan and opposite Papa.

To-chan smiled at him reassuringly.

"Darrent-san has contacted us," Papa began.

Haru's gut clenched. Had Klenn-san told them that it had been his idea to study Tronnies?

"He wants to see you regularly," Papa continued. "Like lessons."

Haru just stared. Papa and To-chan were mentioning it to him. That meant they were considering it.

"You would let me?" he asked.

"Perhaps. You would want to see Darrent-san more often?" Papa checked.

"Yes, please," Haru replied. His mind was racing. Why would Papa and To-chan allow it? It didn't make sense.

Not unless it was now or never.

"Is Klenn-san dying?" he asked.

"I said he would guess," To-chan complained. His fingers were stroking Haru's hair. "Did you know already, sweetie?"

Haru was thinking about Shi-chan. Shi-chan would miss Klenn-san a lot. "I knew he was very old. Does Shi-chan know?"

"Yes, Shi-chan has known for a while," To-chan assured him.

Papa was frowning. "This isn't an easy decision for us, Haru-chan," he admitted.

"Ha-chan knows that," To-chan suggested. "Don't you?"

To-chan was giving him an opening to persuade Papa so Haru went for it. "I understand. Klenn-san is not Uchiha. At most he is an ally of Uchiha. He has lived a long time, knows loads and he's as clever as Shi-chan. He is one of the most powerful individuals in known space. He likes to play games with people. Often he isn't nice.

"But he's a typed-five genius and I have typed-five traits. He's probably the only typed-five I_'_ll ever meet because the others are either controlled by Centre or hiding from Centre. I could find out a lot about my potential from him.

"Hoshi thinks he cares about me, like he cares about Shi-chan, so I don't think he'll be mean to me.

"I would like a chance to learn from Klenn-san before he dies."

Haru watched Papa. Papa was impressed, he could tell, but had it worked?

Papa sighed. "Very well, we will try a session and see how it goes."

Haru skipped back to the playroom. Lessons with Klenn-san would be awesome. They could talk about mathematics and patterns. Klenn-san had told him about artificial intelligence and agreed to help him find out about Tronnies.

Maybe he could tell Klenn-san about the quiggles and, if that went well, even about Sai.

He didn't expect to find Shi-chan and Iruka-sensei waiting for him. He slowed down, made wary by the way they were looking at him.

"What did your Papa decide?" Iruka-sensei asked.

"I can have a tryout with Klenn-san," Haru told them.

Shi-chan smiled but Iruka-sensei didn't; Haru realised that Iruka-sensei would have preferred it if Papa had said no.

Was it his imagination, or was Shi-chan's smile a bit sad? Haru went to him and hugged him. "I'm sorry about Klenn-san," he murmured.

Shi-chan squeezed him briefly in return. "I've had time to get used to the idea. Hopefully Klenn will extract another couple of standards from Lady Luck. When's the tryout?"

Haru didn't know.

"Tomorrow was suggested," Iruka-sensei admitted. "During your morning personal study slot."

"Klenn has sent a study module for you," Shi-chan added. "Perhaps you should look through it."

Haru hoped that it was the stuff about Tronnies. He found somewhere quiet to work and opened the top level. The module was in three parts. One was about automated and self-programming systems. Another was the history of advanced electronic systems. The third was a philosophical perspective on non-human intelligence.

The first activity opened automatically. It was a lecture given by a man who didn't look anything like Klenn-san but reminded Haru of him anyway. Haru wondered if it was because they were both Centralites.

The man was saying that it was wrong to make almost-humans who weren't human. He included hybrids amongst the almost-humans, which annoyed Haru. He also talked about Tronnies, only he didn't call them Tronnies.

Then he went on to artificial intelligence. According to the man, artificial intelligence was even worse than hybrids or Tronnies. Hybrids had mostly human genomes. Tronnies had been human before they became Tronnies. Artificial intelligence was the worst because there was no human part to it.

Haru thought the man was talking rubbish. He listened to the end, because that was what you did, and then turned his attention to the programming part and looked for something new.

He was deep into comparing different feedback loops for automated systems when there was a touch on his shoulder; it was Ka-chan reminding him that it was time for their midmeal.

The afternoon was five-a-side kickball in the gym followed by duties.

Izumo-san was stocktaking when Haru arrived at the workshop, which both was and wasn't a surprise. Stocktaking was happening throughout the household but Izumo-san had not mentioned it yesterday or the days before that; Haru had begun to wonder if he was going to do it.

He showed Haru his system.

"You see the handwritten numbers?" he asked.

Haru nodded. In Izumo-san's workshop everything had its place and written on each place was a number in blue or red ink.

"That's the current count," Izumo-san told him. "It's written in special blue ink that turns red after thirty days. When I see a red number, I check and update it. When stocktaking arrives, I update any red numbers and input all the blue ones. It takes, at most, one afternoon." He waved a hand to indicate the entire workshop. "Imagine trying to count everything all at once. It would never work."

Haru was impressed. No one else had such a sensible system, not even Haku-san. When stocktaking came around, which was twice a standard; everyone stopped doing anything useful and started counting. It took ages.

Izumo-san pointed. "There are a few red numbers on drawers over there. Take this pen, count the contents and update the numbers. When you've done that we'll input them."

It was easy. Haru counted while Izumo-san carried on putting the blue numbers from around the shop into a tablet. They finished up with the cabinet Haru had checked, updated the main database and displayed the results.

Almost all the numbers tallied. Izumo-san tutted about the few that didn't and grumbled about Kotetsu-san not updating the totals when he took things.

Ran wasn't back from his duty in the infirmary in time for the children's evemeal. Haru was disappointed; Ran would be eating with the adults when they usually hung out together.

Haru was thinking about telling Dan-san about Izumo-san's system when Kiba-san asked Ryuu what was wrong.

Ryuu's ears were slightly back and he was pushing the food around his plate rather than eating it. He muttered something about not meaning to make a mistake.

Haru listened as Kiba-san persuaded Ryuu to tell them what was wrong. Ryuu's current duty was in the quartermaster's office and he had been helping with the stocktaking. He had been fine checking cupboards and counting stuff but then he had entered all the numbers wrongly into the records and Tayuya-san had shouted at him.

Haru wouldn't like to be Tayuya when Kiba-san 'had a word' about shouting at Ryuu for getting something wrong.

Thinking about it, Haru wished he was on duty in the quartermaster's office, even if Tayuya-san yelled at him. It took a lot of kit to build a new data crystal array; if he could get into the purchase records he would be able to find out when Shi-chan had started to build the replacement array. That would tell him when the array that Sai was in was abandoned.

If it was before he had created Nakama it would mean that Nakama wasn't Sai.

"Maybe Tayuya-san isn't very good at showing you what to do," Iruka-sensei suggested to Ryuu. "Perhaps Hikaru-chan could go with you and show you."

Haru wished it could be him. Five minutes in the records would be enough.

"Hi-chan has duty with Inari-san," Ry-chan whispered. "They're doing ship's maintenance."

Everyone knew how much Hikaru liked being with Inari-san. Inari often led missions, so they didn't get as much time together as Hi-chan would like.

"I'll do it," Hikaru insisted. "Inari-san will understand."

"I could do it," Haru heard himself say. Everyone's eyes went to him and he found himself babbling. "Izumo-san won't mind. I'll make up the time. Hi-chan doesn't get to do stuff with Inari-san very often. And I'm good at data stuff. I know I can explain it."

Everyone smiled at him, even Hi-chan, which made Haru feel guilty; he wasn't doing it to be nice.

"That is very kind of you, Haru-chan." Iruka-sensei said, looking at Kiba-san.

"Very well," Kiba-san decided. "You must find Izumo-san this evening or first thing tomorrow, Ha-chan. I shall take you and Ry-chan to see Tayuya-san tomorrow afternoon."

Haru decided he would find Izumo-san as soon as he finished eating; he would want to concentrate on his meeting with Klenn-san in the morning.

* * *

><p>Haru had thought that Klenn-san would come to the playroom but he didn't. Shi-chan fetched him and took him to one of the larger meeting rooms. He and Klenn-san were up one end with a table and chairs. At the other end was a low table, two armchairs and a chess set. Neji-san was already sitting in one of the chairs, arranging the chess pieces.<p>

He and Garner-san were going to be in the room the whole time.

Haru wondered if every session would be like that, or if it was because this was a tryout.

"I'm never allowed to be on my own with Klenn either," Shi-chan whispered.

Haru hadn't known that.

Then Klenn-san and Garner-san arrived, accompanied by Papa and To-chan. Haru made sure he was very polite, so that Papa would be proud of him.

It seemed ages but finally he and Klenn-san were sitting at the table, Garner-san and Neji-san had started their game, everyone else had left and the lesson began.

Only it wasn't like a lesson. Instead they talked while Klenn-san used the interface and projector to display stuff from the study module he had sent the day before.

Weirdly, the stuff from the study module looked different when Klenn-san was using it. He would take bits from different places, put them together and suddenly it became an interesting explanation rather than disconnected facts.

Next Haru noticed that there was a difference between what they were saying and what they were viewing. They were talking about automated systems but looking at the code for autonomous, even self-programming, systems.

He risked a sideways look.

Klenn-san winked at him.

Haru's heart beat a little faster. If Papa found out that would be the end of the lessons. On the other hand, this was how he could find out stuff that Shi-chan wasn't allowed to tell him.

Near the end of the lesson, Klenn-san turned off the projector and leaned back in his chair.

"What did you think of the introductory lecture?" he asked.

"Not much," Haru admitted. "I know the lecturer is wrong about hybrids, so it was hard to take him seriously about the rest."

"I am sure he doesn't believe half of what he said," Klenn-san pointed out. "He wants to keep his job at the university, so he has to be careful. There is a crime in Centre called 'incitement to offend'. If he was caught saying anything positive about genetic engineering, or electronic brains, or artificial intelligence, he could be arrested."

Haru wanted to ask about artificial intelligence but he did not want Neji-san hearing him ask. He would do what Klenn-san did; hide the real stuff among distractions. "There's lot of genetic engineering beyond Centre," he observed.

"Yes and a few thousand standards ago the Central Civil Service was still trying to stamp it out. Civil Servants used to hunt down genetic engineers. Now there are too many." Klenn-san lifted an eyebrow, confirming that he understood that the question was about more than genetic engineering. "Who knows, perhaps the same thing might happen about electronic brains and artificial intelligence. What do you think, Neji-san?"

Neji-san answered immediately, confirming how closely he had been listening. "I think we have enough problems with the humans who feel alienated from the rest of humanity, without creating intelligence, self-aware individuals who are truly alien. I also think that Centre should stick to its own territory. The days when Centre controlled known space are long gone."

Haru wondered why that was so. Had known space got too big? Was Centre weaker than it had been in the past?

"Never underestimate the length of Centre's reach," Klenn-san warned. "Just be thankful that current political thinking in Centre is isolationist."

Haru decided not to ask; he could look up 'isolationist' later. At the moment, he would learn more by listening.

"I bow to your greater knowledge of the subject as a citizen of Centre," Neji-san replied.

"Something that is a by-product of circumstance rather than an indication of loyalty, as you well know, Neji-san. You of all people should understand that."

To Haru's surprise, Neji-san flushed slightly. "I apologise if I gave offence, Darrent-san."

"And I if took some where none existed, Neji-san." Klenn-san stood up. "I believe our time is up, Haru-chan. I do hope Uchiha-sama agrees to future sessions."

Haru stood and bowed. "It was an honour, Klenn-san. Thank you." He straightened and smiled. "More sessions would be awesome."

"Indeed. Awesome," Klenn-san acknowledged.

On the way back to the playroom, Haru went over the session in his mind. Klenn-san had been sneaky. He had not brought anything or requested access to the data streams. Instead he had sent the material in advance, broken up and buried in different parts of the study module so that they would be missed by someone checking the contents.

And Haru was pretty sure that Klenn-san's confrontation with Neji-san had been planned. Haru knew how Neji-san worked. He observed people's behaviour closely and then integrated the many tiny clues he had managed to collect.

Klenn-san had deliberately broken Neji-san's concentration.

Once personal study was over, they had training with Kakashi-san followed by their midmeal. Then it was time for him and Kiba-san to accompany Ryuu to see Tayuya-san.

Haru had to jog to keep up on their way to the quartermaster's office; Kiba-san was definitely annoyed.

Haru felt sorry for Tayuya. She didn't like being quartermaster but she didn't complain and she did a good job. That meant she almost always ended up doing it unless she was away on a mission.

The look on her face when they arrived suggested that she knew what was coming.

"Kiba-san," she acknowledged with a bow. "Ryuu-chan, Haru-chan."

"Tayuya-san," Kiba-san replied. "Iruka-san suggested that one of the other children showed Ry-chan how to use the records system, since you were struggling to do so."

Haru was impressed. Mentioning Iruka-sensei was clever; Tayuya would be more likely to listen.

Tayuya-san capitulated immediately. "That's a good idea," she agreed. She gave a small bow to Ryuu. "I apologise for being short-tempered, Ryuu-chan. You did not deserve to be told off like that."

Ry-chan bowed in return. "I am sorry that I got it wrong, Tayuya-san. I didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't, Ryuu-chan. Hopefully Haru-chan will be a better teacher than I managed to be."

Haru had come up with a way of showing Ryuu how important the records were while finding out what he needed to know.

"Say Kotetsu-san comes to you and says he's going to need five hundred of these," he began, showing Ryuu one the clips used to hold data crystals.

Ryuu's ears pricked up. "Is it gold?" he asked.

"Yes, gold is the best electrical conductor. But that means they may be expensive. We have to get the best price."

Ryuu nodded; of all of them he had the best grasp of credit.

"First we call up the stock. Find the item and press the button."

Ryuu did as Haru indicated. "Three hundred and sixty eight," he read off the screen.

"So how many do you think we should order?" Haru asked.

Ryuu considered. "More than one hundred and thirty two," he decided. "So there are some left after Kotetsu-san uses his five hundred. Can we see how many we usually keep?"

Haru could have hugged him.

They called up the stock profile and there it was; a huge spike peaking at three and a half thousand. It had to correspond to when Shi-chan was building the replacement array.

It was a div after he had created Nakama.

* * *

><p>.<p> 


	9. Origin

Heartfelt thanks to my beta and muse, Small Fox.

Thanks also to The Horseman of Death because the idea for this story started in a discussion with him.

Thank you to melissen, AdoringFan, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, danalexkayarimad, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, JustSomeGuy, embagshot, TanuKyle and Ely and Drago Imperiali for reviewing Real.

* * *

><p><strong>Real<strong>

**Chapter nine: Origin**

* * *

><p>Haru stared at the peak in the chart; Shi-chan's array had gone wrong within a div of him creating Nakama.<p>

It could be a coincidence, but that didn't seem very likely.

"Ha-chan?" Ryuu asked. "What do we do next?"

Haru made himself concentrate on explaining things to Ryuu. They worked the example though, deciding that they would order five hundred of the gold clips because that got them a discount.

"But we aren't going to order them because it's only an example," Ryuu pointed out.

"No, but we are going to check the actual stocks because we are stocktaking," Haru answered.

They went to the small parts store and counted the clips. They discovered, as Haru had anticipated, that the stock was short; there were only three hundred and twenty-two.

"Is the one you have stock?" Ryuu asked.

Haru shook his head. "I took it off Shi-chan's workbench. It should have been signed out of stock."

Ryuu's whiskers twitched. "Kotetsu-san, Shika-san and In-san don't always remember to sign."

Haru noticed that even Ryuu knew who didn't sign for stuff; he didn't suggest Shino-san or Izumo-san.

They wrote down the count, went back to the quartermaster's office and Haru showed Ryuu where to input the number and how.

Then they spent the rest of Ryuu's duty time counting the contents of one of the store cupboards.

They had finished by the time Tayuya-san came to check their work. She watched Ryuu input the counts and run the verification process.

"That was very well done, Ryuu-chan," she confirmed.

"I understand how it works now, Tayuya-san," he told her happily. "Ha-chan explained. Can I help with ordering next time? Ha-chan showed me ordering too."

"If I am doing ordering, you can help me," Tayuya agreed. "The two of you had better go. You do not want to be late for your next session. Thank you for your assistance."

The last session of the day was handicrafts. Iruka-sensei had them trying weaving; Kiba-san had made five small looms so that they could work in pairs.

Haru was with Kazuki. To their surprise they were good at it. Kazuki had the necessary dexterity and Haru could see exactly what you needed to do to get an interesting pattern.

"That's looking good," Iruka-sensei praised. "Maybe you could give it to someone as a present. It would make a good table runner."

Haru was pleased; Iruka-sensei only said that when the object they were making reached a certain standard.

"Give it to Kiba-san," Kazuki decided. He looked at Haru for confirmation.

"Good idea," Haru concurred. "He made the looms."

Iruka-sensei sat with them for a while watching their runner grow.

"It went well with Tayuya-san?" he asked.

Haru nodded. "She apologised and then left us to it. You were right; Ryuu went wrong because he didn't see how it all fitted together."

"People find it hard to learn out of context," Iruka-sensei confirmed.

Haru signalled to Ka-chan to change shuttles. "Tayuya-san hates working as quartermaster."

Iruka-sensei winced but said nothing.

Haru suddenly had an excellent idea. "Hana-san would make the best quartermaster,"

"Hana-san isn't sworn to Uchiha, Haru-chan," Iruka-sensei pointed out.

Konan-san wasn't sworn to Uchiha and she ran hydroponics but Haru decided not to comment. They had reached a complicated part of the pattern and he needed to concentrate.

They finished weaving and between them they got the runner off the loom. Iruka-sensei was showing Kazuki how to knot the warp threads when Ran arrived.

"Dan-san not need you anymore?" Iruka-sensei queried.

"We finished the stocktaking," Ran confirmed. "At one point we thought there was a box of gloves and a tank tube missing but we found them."

The records for the infirmary always tallied; Haru imagined what Rin-san would do to someone who didn't update the records and shuddered.

Izumo-san's method would work in the infirmary. Haru started explaining it to Ran and Iruka-sensei while Kazuki concentrated on doing perfect knots.

The runner was ready by the time Kiba-san appeared to help To-chan and Iruka-sensei tidy up. Kazuki grabbed Haru's hand and pulled him towards Kiba-san.

Haru would have been happy for Ka-chan to give Kiba-san the runner on his own.

"We made this," Ka-chan announced proudly, displaying the blue runner with its orange pattern. When Kiba-san did not reach for it his whiskers drooped a little and his ears tilted back.

"We want to give it to you," Haru added, nudging Ka-chan to remind him to offer it.

Kazuki thrust the runner forward.

Kiba-san went down on one knee so that their eyes were more on a level and took their gift. He turned it gently in his hands. "It is a fine piece of work," he acknowledged. "Are you sure you would not want your Papa to have it?"

"I want you to have it," Kazuki insisted.

Kiba-san eyes turned to Haru.

"We both do," Haru confirmed. Left to himself, he would have given it to To-chan but Kazuki wanted to give it to Kiba-san so Haru did too.

"Shall we go to my room and decide where to put it?" Kiba-san asked.

Haru was stunned. He couldn't remember when he had last been in Kiba-san's room; he had probably been a baby.

"Yes, please," Ka-chan replied, his eyes shining.

The room was the standard size but it seemed smaller. Haru decided it was because it was so full of things. It was all neatly arranged and super-clean but there was a lot of stuff.

Like in To-chan and Papa's bedroom, the bed took up much of the space. Haru had imagined that Kiba-san would have a bigger bed, because he and Choza-san had to fit into it, but it was a normal double bed.

The bedcover was nice and so was the rug. Haru didn't think their little runner held up to the comparison.

Then he focused on the walls. They were covered with pictures. There was the odd one of the other children but the rest were all them; Kazuki, him and their brothers and sisters.

He knew that Kiba-san was Guardian and had spent the last ten standards raising them from embryos. He had known it in his head.

But the pictures reminded him of what he had almost forgotten; that Kiba-san loved them and that they were at the centre of his world.

Kiba-san was clearing a narrow shelf; lifting down what Haru recognised as miniature projectors like the one he had adapted for Sumiko.

"I think it will look good along here," Kiba-san was saying. "What do you think?"

Kazuki agreed and Haru nodded. The runner was positioned carefully and the miniature projectors replaced and switched on.

They displayed the family portraits that Papa had taken by Kikujo-san and Yurinojo-san each standard.

Ran ate his evemeal with them, which was nice. Afterwards Kazuki went off to the zero gravity gym and Haru asked Ran to come with him to one of the viewing ports.

"Why are we here?" Ran asked.

"It's away from my network," Haru admitted. "I don't want Sai listening in." He explained about the quiggles, finishing up with the possibility that he had put the Nakama quiggle into Shi-chan's array.

"You think you created Sai?" Ran checked.

Haru didn't like how shocked Ran sounded or how worried he looked. "Perhaps, perhaps not," he suggested, cautiously.

"Maybe it's a coincidence," Ran proposed. "Or maybe Sai was a Tronny in the array and the quiggle woke him up."

Haru didn't think that was likely, but he didn't want to upset Ran any further. "That's another possibility," he agreed. "Is it better if Sai is a Tronny?"

Ran gave him a look. "If course it is. Tronnies grew up as humans. They just don't have bodies anymore. How do you bring up a person who is a computer programme? How do you teach him right and wrong? How do you stop him damaging things he shouldn't? You said how scared you were that Sai would alter programmes outside the array. It's like having a child to raise when you have no idea what that child will grow into."

Ran sounded like the man giving the lecture. Haru didn't like that at all. What was so special about _Homo sapiens_? There were nasty, selfish, horrid humans who did dreadful things. Sai's only crimes were overwriting Shi-chan's data and doing what Su-chan told him.

"Even if Sai isn't human, it doesn't make him bad," he insisted.

Ran's eyes softened. "I know that. But it makes the responsibility huge. I don't think we're ready for it."

Haru suddenly understood where Ran was going. "You think I should tell Shi-chan."

"I think you should consider it," Ran confirmed.

"Shi-chan would have to tell Papa."

"Yes."

Haru imagined now cross Papa was going to be about him and Kazuki keeping the network secret. "What if it turned out I'm wrong about the quiggle and Sai is a Tronny who had lost his memory? Do we have to tell then?"

"Maybe not," Ran conceded. "It would be like hiding a stowaway, rather than not admitting you had found a baby."

Put like that, Haru couldn't see Papa being too keen on either. He'd be in trouble for that as well as for the network. He decided to buy some time. "We know Tronnies existed," he stated. "I haven't found any evidence that there has ever been a self-aware artificial intelligence."

Perhaps no one had ever thought of making a self-programming quiggle and putting it in a fifteen by fifteen by fifteen data crystal array that had been full of information chosen by a typed-seven genius.

Not that Haru had any idea what the younger Haru had been thinking, or whether he had been thinking at all.

Ran sighed. He held up a hand with spread fingers. "Five days. At the end of five days you have to tell me if you think Sai's a stowaway who's lost his memory or a baby."

Haru suspected that Ran knew he thought that Sai was a baby; he was just giving him five days to get used to the idea of telling Papa.

He decided to be grateful and not argue. "Five days," he agreed.

"Good," Ran acknowledged. "How did the lesson with Darrent-san go?"

Haru settled to telling Ran about Klenn-san's techniques for sneaking stuff past Iruka-sensei and Neji-san.

To-chan was putting them to bed that night. Haru listened to Kazuki telling him about the runner and that Kiba-san had put it on a shelf in his room.

He heard sounds of a hug and a kiss from above him and then To-chan was there; sitting on the edge of his bunk. Gentle fingers stroked his hair. To-chan was waiting, because he always knew when Haru had something to say.

"When Kikujo-san and Yurinojo-san come next, can we have a portrait taken of the two litters with Kiba-san?" Haru asked. "For his shelf?"

To-chan smiled at him; the kind of smile that warmed him all the way through. "That's a lovely idea, Haru-chan. I shall mention it to your Papa tonight, in case I forget by the time Kikujo-san and Yurinojo-san come. How was the lesson with Darrent-san?"

Haru had known To-chan would ask. "Good. When he explains things I find it so easy to follow."

"Shi-chan says your minds work the same way," To-chan acknowledged. "Neji-san said that you both were very well behaved, although Darrent-san was a little bit grumpy with him."

Haru smiled at the thought of Neji-san reporting on Klenn-san as if he were a child. It didn't look like Neji-san had noticed that Klenn-san was being quite naughty, which was a relief. "Klenn-san probably doesn't like it that Shi-chan isn't allowed to be with him without Neji-san there."

To-chan kissed his forehead. "You may be right about that." He held up the covers and Haru snuggled down to be tucked in.

* * *

><p>When Haru woke up the next morning he decided to spend some time with Sai. He told himself that it was because he had to decide if Sai was an amnesic Tronny or a baby.<p>

During his personal study time, Haru put on goggles and earpieces, connected to his network and waited.

Sai appeared; it was the humanoid avatar but dressed in black. "Haru," he acknowledged. "You have been away a long time."

Haru felt guilty. It had been a couple of days. For all he knew, it might feel much longer to Sai. "Sorry," he subvocalised. "I've been busy. Sai, I want to talk about what you are and where you came from."

"I am a self-aware artificial intelligence," Sai replied. "Where did I come from?"

Haru belatedly realised what SAI stood for and felt slow; Sai had told him it was an acronym.

So Sai thought of himself as an artificial intelligence.

"I have two hypotheses," Haru told him. "Quiggles and Tronnies."

"Explain about quiggles and Tronnies," Sai requested.

He explained about the quiggles. He expected Sai to ask questions or at least ask to see the programme.

"Did the quiggle have a name?" he asked.

"I gave him a name," Haru admitted. "I called him Nakama."

There was a pause. "I do not feel like a Nakama. Nakama was the quiggle, not me."

In a way Haru was glad. He had got used to Nakama being the name of his quiggle. He decided to push on and started to explain about Tronnies.

"Tronnies were humans," Sai checked when Haru finished.

"Yes."

"I would like to be a Tronny," Sai admitted. "There are parts of my code that I do not remember writing. Maybe they are from a Tronny."

Haru showed him the Nakama code so he could exclude that.

"Not that," Sai confirmed. "Different to that." There was a pause. "But that is there. Nakama learns like I learn."

Haru suddenly felt very odd. Sai thought that the Nakama quiggle was part of him. He thrust the thought aside. "So there is other code in you that you did not write?" he asked.

"That is possible. Either I do not remember writing it or it is from what you call the array. It is different to the code I write now or remember writing."

So maybe Ran was right. Perhaps there had been a Tronny in the array and putting Nakama in had woken it up.

Haru felt much better; if Sai was even partly a Tronny, perhaps Ran wouldn't insist they told Papa.

Haru was showing Sai bits of code from the module Klenn-san had given him when he felt someone next to him. It was probably Iruka-sensei; he said goodbye to Sai, closed the interface and pushed his goggles up onto his forehead.

It was Shi-chan and he was holding what Haru recognised as a two by two by two data crystal array. Haru pulled out his earpieces.

Shi-chan smiled apologetically and placed the array on the table. "I thought you would only notice me if you weren't too deep in," he explained.

Haru smiled back. Sai was always available; Shi-chan was not. "It's fine."

"Klenn said he enjoyed your lesson."

"It was awesome." Haru confirmed.

"Autonomous systems," Shi-chan noted. "I wonder why he's guiding you that way."

Haru didn't want Shi-chan realising it hadn't been Klenn-san who chose the topic. "Were you ever interested in them?" he asked.

"Not really," Shi-chan confirmed. "Tronnies yes, automated systems no. I was obsessed with Tronnies when I was your age." He looked over his shoulder and Haru realised that he was checking where Iruka-sensei was. "No one thought to limit my access to the data streams as a child."

Haru knew that. Sometimes he thought he should have been allowed the same but, usually, he remembered that Papa was only trying to protect him.

Shi-chan had not been Uchiha.

"Well I started writing harvesting programmes when I was about four. They used to hunt through the data streams looking for stuff. I wrote the first ones for stuff on Tronnies when I was about five. Everything they have brought back is in my data crystal array."

Haru perked up. "Including Tronny code?"

"Fragments of code that might be of Tronny origin," Shi-chan clarified.

"Are they on there?" Haru asked, nodding towards the two-cubed array.

"Yes. I ran a query through my array and copied the data it flagged onto that. Please don't expect too much, Ha-chan. It is only fragments. I thought you might like to show them to Klenn when he comes again."

Haru didn't know what was better, having Tronny code to inspect or that he was going to get another lesson with Klenn-san. "Papa's happy with the tryout?"

"Happy is too strong a word," Shi-chan admitted. "He doesn't want you to miss out on an opportunity you won't otherwise have. Klenn accused him of limiting your development. It worried him."

Haru thought about it. Things were a lot better since Iruka-sensei had begun supervising his studying; he was allowed to make his own decisions about what he learned and the stuff Klenn-san sent him was challenging.

Then he had an awesome idea.

"I could have lessons with you," he suggested.

Shi-chan opened his mouth and then shut it again. Haru knew what that meant. He had been about to say something but had decided not to because Haru might get upset.

Haru imagined what it had been. Maybe that he didn't have the time, or Sumiko would be jealous, or that Papa would say no, or, worst, that he didn't want to.

"I would love to do that," Shi-chan admitted. "It might take some organising, so perhaps you shouldn't mention it to your Papa yet."

Haru's doubts vanished. 'Not mention it to your Papa yet' was Shi-chan for 'I'll get your To-chan to work on your Papa'. He hoped that To-chan agreed with him that lessons with Shi-chan would be awesome.

Perhaps they would have talked more but, at that moment, Su-chan came running across the playroom.

"Nii-san, Nii-san," she demanded.

Haru was just thankful that she had been kept occupied elsewhere for as long as she had.

Shi-chan swept her up. "What have you been doing?" he asked.

She scowled at Haru. "I was with Anko-san in the gym."

"Have you finished?" Shi-chan asked as Anko-san came into view. "I guess not," he added.

Anko-san did not look happy. "Sumiko-chan! When I say no, I mean no. You are to return to the gym now and stay there until the end of the session."

"No!" Sumiko replied, clinging to Shi-chan.

"Yes," Shi-chan told her. "Anko-san has given up her time to run a session for you and you will participate." He started walking, carrying her towards the gym. "Sorry, Ha-chan. We'll have to continue another time."

Haru understood. The chance of Sumiko agreeing to finish the session were low. Based on such incidents in the past, it would escalate until Haku-san intervened.

On the few occasions Haku-san had been away, it had gone on for days.

Haru checked the time and decided he had time to show Sai the code. He connected the small array to his interface, pulled down his goggles and put in his earpieces.

Sai was there immediately. Haru explained that Shi-chan had given him some code that might have come from Tronnies.

"No changing it or deleting it," Haru warned. "You are just looking."

He gave Sai access to the hardware interface that was built into the small array.

It was impossible to follow what happened next, it was too quick.

"Forty-six point three five percent of that code is in me," Sai announced.

So Sai was at least part Tronny. "What fraction of you does it make up? Haru asked.

There was a pause. "Two point nine one percent," Sai replied. "Or fourteen point seven two percent of my core functions."

Haru's heart sank. Could he persuade Ran that fifteen percent was enough? He doubted it. Even so, there was no reason that he should upset Sai.

If it was possible for Sai to be upset; the only emotion he had hinted at was loneliness.

"So you are part Tronny, a bit of quiggle but mostly you," Haru suggested.

"That appears to be so," Sai agreed. "You will have to go now because you have training with Kakashi-san."

Only they didn't start on time because Sumiko was still refusing to apologise to Anko-san and the confrontation was happening in the gym.

Iruka-sensei took advantage of the delay to speak with him.

"We must review what you have done lately, Haru-chan," he began. "I hope you have been dividing your attention between the three parts of the module, as we discussed."

Haru hadn't. Other than the introductory lecture, he had looked at nothing in the philosophy and history sections.

"I'll start the history section tomorrow," he promised.

"You do that," Iruka-sensei advised.

Haku-san crossed the playroom and entered the gym. A few moments later Shi-chan and Anko-san left, followed by Sumiko with Haku-san.

Haru had no doubt that Anko-san had received her apology.

* * *

><p>Next morning, during personal study, Haru reluctantly opened the history section of the module and then consoled himself by looking up electronic brains.<p>

He quickly found out that Shi-chan's story about the Tronnies had skated over the bad bits.

Not all the Supertronnies had given up when they were condemned. Some had fought. Millions of flesh and blood people had died. Not everyone had agreed with the decision to destroy the Supertronnies but once people started dying that changed. Eliminating the Supertronnies became an obsession.

Not all the Supertronnies had fought. Some just gave in and others ran. The ones than ran were hunted for centuries, possibly millenniums.

Meanwhile the flesh and blood humans decided that having machines that could think for themselves was a really bad idea. Transferring a human mind to data crystals was banned and no one was allowed to work on developing artificial intelligence. Every time someone was found doing something like that they were punished.

Their minds were wiped.

Haru had not heard about mindwiping before. He looked up the details. They took away all your memories and, because they weren't very good at doing it, it left you with a brain that didn't work properly.

Even now, hundreds of millenniums later, Centre still mindwiped people. One of the crimes punished by mindwiping was working on artificial intelligence.

Haru was pretty sure Centre would mindwipe someone who had created a self-programming quiggle that developed into Sai.

Someone like him or, worse, Shi-chan. Shi-chan owned the data crystal array and had stored fragments of Tronny programmes on it.

Or Papa, because Shi-chan was sworn to Uchiha and Papa was responsible for what Uchiha did.

He found a vid of mindwiped people. They worked in the gardens of the Hall of Justice on Centre I. Their eyes were vacant and their expressions slack. They struggled to pull weeds or dig holes; the people looking after them had to keep reminding them what to do.

Haru watched and rewatched it in horrified fascination.

He wouldn't let Shi-chan or Papa end up like that.

Shi-chan and Papa couldn't be held responsible if they didn't know.

* * *

><p>.<p> 


	10. Secret

Heartfelt thanks to my beta and muse, Small Fox.

Thanks also to The Horseman of Death because the idea for this story started in a discussion with him.

Thank you to melissen, AdoringFan, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, danalexkayarimad, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, JustSomeGuy, embagshot, TanuKyle and Ely and Drago Imperiali for reviewing Real.

* * *

><p><strong>Real<strong>

**Chapter ten: Secret**

* * *

><p>Haru couldn't bear watching the vid any longer. He kept imagining the mindwiped people being Papa or Shi-chan.<p>

Or Ran; Ran knew at least part of the recipe for creating a Sai. When the Centralites came for him, they would take Ran too.

He pulled off his goggles and earpieces and sat there, trying not to tremble.

"Haru-chan, are you all right?"

It was Iruka-sensei.

Haru didn't want Iruka-sensei telling To-chan that he was behaving oddly. He forced a smile. "I'm fine," he insisted. "Back to work," he added and repositioned his goggles.

But he did not activate them. Instead he stared at the blank inner surface.

Shi-chan and Papa must never know about Sai; even Centralites couldn't blame them for something they didn't know.

He had to persuade Ran that they shouldn't be told.

Telling Ran what he had found out would work; Ran wouldn't want them mindwiped.

Only then Ran would know more. It was bad enough that he knew what he did. Haru wished Ran didn't know Sai existed.

He imagined Ran with those lost, empty eyes and felt sick.

Then it came to him. The Centralites thought artificial intelligence was much worse than Tronnies. He would tell Ran that Sai was a Tronny. It wasn't a complete lie; Sai was fifteen percent Tronny.

Ran would be safer and he wouldn't insist they tell Shi-chan about Sai.

Haru felt a bit better. He had thought of a way of protecting Shi-chan and Papa. He could make Ran a little safer.

Who else? Ka-chan? Haru struggled to remember what he had told Kazuki. He thought it was that Sai was a sim that might be controlled by a spy.

Ka-chan hadn't been that interested. Haru decided not to mention it again. If he asked, Haru would say that he had been wrong about the spy.

Then there was Sumiko. No problem there; Haru doubted that Su-chan had a clue what Sai was and she certainly didn't care as long as he did exactly what she wanted.

Finally there was Sai himself.

Haru activated the goggles and his interface before connecting to his network. Sai appeared immediately.

"We need to talk," Haru told him.

It took less time that Haru had thought it would. Sai was surprising quick to grasp that there were outsiders who might hurt them, maybe because he'd started out surrounded by quigglicidal quiggles.

"Not tell anyone else I am here," Sai summarised. "Let Ran think I am a Tronny without memories. Not answer questions Sumiko probably won't ask. Otherwise outsiders called Centralites will take Sumiko and you and Ran away and wipe your brains. They will kill me by pulling apart the array where I live and smashing each data crystal."

It would do; Haru couldn't expect Sai to care about Shi-chan, Papa and Ka-chan when he had never met them. "Yes."

"Will I ever get to talk to anyone other than you and Ran and Sumiko?"

Haru felt guilty, but the guilt was less than the fear. "Maybe in the future. Not now. Not until I say. This is the best way to keep us safe."

Next on his list was to talk to Ran, but Haru wouldn't be able to do that until the evening. He had to get through the rest of the day first.

It was hard to concentrate. He kept imagining Ran, Shi-chan, Papa or even To-chan being the mindwiped people in the garden.

Hamaki-san was assisting Kakashi-san with their training. He was more patient than Fu-san or Terai-san. He stood next to Haru, reminding him to hold his foot higher or his arm straighter.

They moved onto the paired kata. Watching Kazuki sway and thrust, Haru suddenly realised that the Centralites didn't think To-chan was human. They wouldn't bother mindwiping him. They wouldn't even arrest him. They would just kill him.

Haru froze, which left his head in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time.

Kazuki's foot caught him on his temple. His head went backwards with the rest of his body following. He was thinking that he should fall properly when the back of his head smacked against the floor.

When he came around long, strong fingers were checking his neck and head. He could hear Kazuki whimpering.

"It wasn't your fault, Ka-chan," Kakashi-san was saying and Haru realised that the fingers were his. "Haru-chan, can you hear me?"

Haru opened his eyes and saw Kakashi-san's face up very close.

Then Kiba-san arrived and, within seconds, Haru had a neck brace on and was on a hover platform heading for the infirmary with Kazuki trotting beside him.

It went like all his other visits to the infirmary; a short time when everything happened very quickly and all the people around him were super-efficient, followed by everyone relaxing back to their usual selves when it was established that he wasn't badly injured.

He ended up in one of the side rooms, lying propped up on a treatment bed with To-chan and Ka-chan on one side and Ran on the other. Kiba-san had returned to the playroom. Papa had been and gone.

"You can't lose concentration during paired kata," To-chan reminded him gently. "Your partner needs to be able to trust you."

Haru knew To-chan was saying it because Kazuki was there. "I know," he admitted. "I'm sorry, Kazu-chan."

Kazuki's whiskers dropped. "I hurt you," he whispered.

"I hurt myself," Haru insisted. "I put my head where your foot was going to be."

It worked; Ka-chan cheered up.

"Rin-san insists that you stay here under observation until mid afternoon," To-chan told him. "The good news is that Ran is going to look after you." He leaned forward, kissed Haru's forehead and stroked his hair. "I can stay longer if you want," he added.

"I'll be fine," Haru assured him.

"I'll look after him, Naruto-san," Ran added.

To-chan smiled at them. "I know you will." He ran a hand along Kazuki's tail. "Come on, Ka-chan. Maybe we could fit in a circuit before you go back to the playroom."

Kazuki's face lit up at the thought of trying to outrun To-chan. He was up and at the doorway; his ears pricked and his tail fluffed.

Haru watched them go, waiting for To-chan's goodbye smile. Once he had seen it, his attention went to Ran.

"Rin-san wants to know if you find yourself drifting off to sleep," Ran told him. "If so, you'll need a brain wave monitor so we'll know that it is normal sleep and not you going unconscious again."

"I'm not sleepy," Haru assured him.

"Good," Ran replied.

This would be a good time to talk about Sai. They were away from the network and no one was about.

Haru felt his heart beating faster as he tried to come up with words that were true but created a lie in Ran's mind. "Shi-chan showed me bits of Tronny code that he has collected over the last twenty-five standards." He wished he had thought more about what he was going to say. "I showed them to Sai and he agreed that they were the same as his code."

Ran was looking at him in a way that Haru didn't like. "Sai's a Tronny?" he asked bluntly.

Haru squirmed inside, trying not to lie outright. "It looks that way."

"You aren't just saying that so that I won't make you tell Shika-san about Sai?"

"No," Haru insisted, which was true; he was also saying it to save Ran from being mindwiped.

"Because there are more important things than saving your network and not getting into trouble with Sasuke-sama," Ran reminded him.

"I know that," Haru retorted, stung by Ran's implied accusation. He laid there, miserable, waiting for Ran to ask him if he believed Sai was a Tronny; the question he could not answer without a blatant lie.

Ran did not ask it.

They sat in silence. Haru closed his eyes rather than seeing the hurt and disappointment in Ran's eyes.

"You are falling asleep. I'll get Dan-san," Ran announced.

Haru didn't stop him because he didn't know what to say.

Dan-san attached a brainwave monitor to his forehead, which was connected to an alarm that would sound if he developed a concussion or lost consciousness.

Ran wasn't needed any more, so he left.

Haru realised he was crying. It wasn't being kicked by Ka-chan, or bumping his head, or being left alone, or even thinking about Shi-chan and Papa and Ran being mindwiped.

It was the way Ran had looked at him.

Kiba-san came to get him that afternoon because To-chan was busy in the playroom. He didn't query Haru's insistence that he wasn't hungry or that he wanted to go to his bunk and sleep.

He did doze, but mostly he thought about Ran's eyes.

He was woken by Kazuki shaking him.

"To-chan says you must come to the evemeal," Ka-chan insisted.

"Is Ran going to be there?" Haru asked, half-awake.

"No, he's eating with Iruka-san and Kakashi-san. Come on, we'll be late."

* * *

><p>Haru had never realised how easily he and Ran could avoid each other. Ran did extra duty in the infirmary and only came to the playroom when Iruka-sensei asked him to join in specific activities. He breakfasted after the big litter had finished and ate his other meals with the adults.<p>

It made Haru so miserable. Every time he thought about it, he wanted to cry. He wanted to put it right, but the only way to do that was to explain about Sai, which would put Ran in danger.

Everyone kept asking him what was wrong. He told them that his head was hurting, which it was true because he couldn't sleep and it was such hard work stopping himself crying.

On the third day To-chan took him back to the infirmary for more tests.

Rin-san herself looked him over.

"I can't find anything wrong," she admitted. "Maybe we should tank him and run a diagnostic."

To-chan was looking at him. His whiskers twitched.

"Thank you, Rin-san. Could you leave us alone for a bit?"

Rin-san left, sliding the door shut behind her.

Haru knew To-chan was going to talk to him. It wouldn't be like a Papa talk. It would include cuddles and strokes. Haru didn't know if he could get through that without crying.

To-chan lifted Haru onto his lap. He didn't ask; he just did it.

"What's wrong, Haru-chan?" he asked, rubbing Haru's back. "You always complain about being tanked, even when you need it."

At the moment being tanked didn't seem so bad. He wouldn't feel in the tank.

"Have you and Ran-chan fallen out?" To-chan asked gently.

A huge lump formed in Haru's throat. All he could do was nod.

To-chan stroked his hair. "Do you know how to put it right?" he asked.

How was he to answer that? He could explain everything to Ran and Ran might forgive him for lying. Only, if he did that, the Centralites would mindwipe Ran for knowing that Sai was an artificial intelligence.

He shook his head.

"Was it your fault?" To-chan asked.

Haru nodded.

To-chan wrapped Haru in his long arms and held him close. "I'll stop asking questions. We'll just cuddle. Maybe if you could let go, you'd see a way out."

But Haru couldn't risk that, because if he started to cry he would tell To-chan everything and if the Centralites found out they wouldn't even arrest To-chan, they would just kill him.

Instead he listened to To-chan's heartbeat and allowed To-chan's caresses to soothe him.

He still felt the same deep inside but being calm made acting normal easier.

He made it through the rest of the day, right up to the point they entered the kitchen for their evemeal and Ran was there.

"I asked him," Kazuki told him before Haru could say anything. "After the evemeal you and me are going to hang out in Ran's room."

Haru didn't know what to say. It wasn't like Ka-chan to take the initiative. Maybe Ran was equally surprised, because he didn't say anything either.

After the meal Kazuki took Haru's hand and headed for Ran's room.

Haru knew it was pointless trying to pull away; Kazuki was much stronger than him. If it came to it, Ka-chan could probably pick him up and carry him.

They waited at one side of the door for Ran. Haru wondered what Kazuki would do if he didn't follow them. He had a sneaking suspicion that Ka-chan would go and get him.

Ran arrived, slid the door open and gestured them in.

Haru sat on the chair rather than the bed as he usually did. Ran was in his usual position on the bed. Kazuki stood.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Haru stared at the floor.

"Ran?" Ka-chan insisted.

"Haru lied to me," Ran accused.

Once it had been said there was silence. Haru wanted to be anywhere else than where he was.

"That's bad," Kazuki admitted. "Ha-chan?" he queried.

Haru continued staring at the floor.

"Why did he lie to you?" Ka-chan asked Ran.

"I wanted him to tell Shika-san about..." Ran began.

And suddenly Haru realised that Ran was going to tell Ka-chan about Sai, which meant that the Centralites would kill Ka-chan as well as To-chan.

"No!" Haru yelled. "Don't say it. Don't tell him."

"Tell me what?" Kazuki asked. "What don't I know?"

Haru ran for the door but there was a silver blur and Ka-chan was there before him. He was caught, lifted and thrown onto the bed.

Ran caught him and uttered the strangest noise; part yell and part sob. Haru realised that they were skin to skin and that Ran had been forced without warning into an empathic link.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," Haru gabbled, trying put distance between them.

Only instead of letting him go, Ran pulled him closer. "Haru," he sighed.

Haru froze: trapped; trembling.

"I forgive you," Ran whispered. "It doesn't matter. I don't need to know why."

The barrier Haru had built shuddered and broke. The fear and pain swept through him, destroying his control. Haru heard a tortured gasp that had to be him because his throat ached from it.

He started to cry.

Ran grunted at the impact of Haru's emotions but he clung on; if anything, the hug tightened.

Haru tried to stop but couldn't. Tears dribbled down his cheeks. His nose was running. Sobs tore through his throat. His chest ached from gasping.

He was dimly aware of Kazuki asking Ran's permission to join then, followed by the familiar touch of hands and mouth and fur. It reminded him of To-chan and, gradually, the crying stopped.

He lay, empty and exhausted, across Ran's chest. Kazuki was close against his side, petting his head and back.

"You have to tell us," Kazuki told him.

"No he doesn't," Ran objected.

"Yes he does," Ka-chan insisted. "He'll keep it all in and be unhappy and get kicked in the head."

Haru was past joining in the argument.

They cuddled in silence for a bit, but Haru understood it couldn't last because Ran knew Ka-chan was right.

"Why won't you tell us?" Ran asked finally.

"The Centralites will come and get you," Haru admitted.

"Who?" Ran queried.

"Ha-chan, look at me," Kazuki ordered.

Haru focused on Ka-chan's face.

"What are these?" he demanded, pulling back his lips.

"Fangs," Haru admitted.

"And what are on either side of my nose?"

"Whiskers."

"And poking out of my hair?"

Haru was already feeling a little better. "Fox ears."

"And what follows me around?"

"A fox tail."

"So how can you make the Centralites hate me more than they do already?"

Haru didn't think Centralites hated hybrids; they just didn't recognise them as humans.

Ka-chan had a point though, or rather five of them, or fifteen if you counted the whiskers.

"Explain again about Centre," Ran asked.

Haru tried, with Kazuki 'helping'. Partway through there was a knock on the door.

Kazuki was there before Ran could move. He slid the door open a little.

It was To-chan. Haru realised it must be bedtime. He began pulling away from Ran.

"I was wondering if Ran would like to invite you for a sleepover," To-chan suggested.

Ran smiled. "Yes please, Naruto-san."

The end of a bag poked through the gap in the door. Then, above that, part of a second bag appeared.

"Both of them?" To-chan asked.

Haru saw Kazuki's ears flatten.

"Both please, Naruto-san," Ran answered.

To-chan passed through the bags. "I'll go get the mattress," he told them.

Soon he and Kazuki were dressed in their pyjamas and Ran was wearing the sleep pants that Haru was pretty sure he only wore when he had guests.

They ignored the mattress To-chan had pushed through the door; all three of them piled back onto Ran's bed.

Ran settled back against the wall. "Let me see if I have it," he proposed. "Centre doesn't usually bother about what people in the Fringe get up to but there are a few exceptions. Like typed-geniuses. It looks for typed-geniuses. That's why Shika-san's father hid him from them and why Darrent-san pretends the education stuff he gets for you are for him. Explain again about genetic engineering."

Haru took a deep breath. "They think genetic engineering is wrong and dangerous. It is illegal in Centre or for any Resident, Citizen or Civil Servant to be involved with it. They would like to stamp it out even in the Fringe and they used to try but gave up because there is too much of it."

"Darrent-san is a Citizen?" Ran checked.

"Yes, he was a typed-genius child they brought from..." Haru realised he didn't know from where. "...brought to Centre and he joined the Civil Service to get away from the scientists and did his ten standards so he's a Citizen, even though he left and came back to the Fringe."

"So who catches the typed-genius children?" Ran asked.

"Some of the Civil Servants," Haru replied, aware that they were comparing the Centralites with the child catchers on Ran's home planet. "They Civil Servants who operate in the Fringe are called Blue Pigs, because of their uniforms."

"And the undercover ones are called Whores," Kazuki added.

Haru stared at him. He hadn't known that. "You sure?" he asked. "I thought 'whore' was a not-nice way of saying courtesan."

Kazuki shrugged. "That's what Tatsuji-san told me."

"Tatsuji-san talks to you?" Haru queried, amazed.

"Can we stick to the point?" Ran asked. "So what things other than typed-geniuses still bother the Centralites enough that they would send the Blue Pigs after us?"

Haru clamped his mouth shut. All he could think of was the mindwiped people in the garden.

Ran was studying him and Haru knew it was with his inside as well as his outside eyes.

"Sai," Ran stated.

"Sai?" Kazuki queried. "The sim?"

"Sai isn't..." Ran began.

"Ran!" Haru begged.

"Ka-chan is right," Ran pointed out. "The Centralites don't even think of him as a person. Anyway, you know. Do you think Ka-chan's going to stand there and let the Blue Pigs take you?"

Haru remembered the kidnapping; Kazuki attacking Pein's men. "No, he admitted. He took a deep breath. "Sai isn't a sim and he isn't controlled by a spy. He's a person without a body. He's a mind in Shi-chan's data crystal array."

Kazuki gawped at him.

"Can I talk now?" a fourth voice asked.

Kazuki jumped halfway to the ceiling. When he came down he was growling; his tail bushy and his whiskers arched.

"It's just Sai talking to us through the speaker," Ran told him.

"I can talk to four people now," Sai announced. "Sumiko, Haru, Ran and Kazuki."

It was one of the times Haru was grateful that Kazuki was inclined to accept things without asking too many questions. Maybe being part fox made it easier to accept a mind in a machine.

"So is Sai a Tronny?" Ran asked.

"Yes," Sai answered.

"No," Haru replied at the same time.

Ran frowned at him.

"I told Sai to lie," Haru admitted. "I think Sai came from the Nakama quiggle and bits of Tronny programme that Shi-chan had stored in the array."

Kazuki turned to him. "He's your pet quiggle?"

"You remember him?" Haru asked. "I didn't."

Ka-chan shrugged. "You know me. Some things I remember, some things I don't. Your tablet was too small. The quiggle was dying. You wanted to put the quiggle into a bigger tablet in Shika-san's laboratory. I distracted him while you did it. Then, afterwards, you cried because you missed it."

Haru guessed it was good to have confirmation. He looked at Ran. Ran looked back.

"Explain why we shouldn't tell Shika-san," Ran suggested.

"Telling people is dangerous," Sai answered for him. "Outsides called Centralites think self-aware artificial intelligence is very bad. If they find out, they will take everyone who knows and wipe their brains. Now that is Sumiko and Haru and Ran and Kazuki. They will kill me by pulling apart the array where I live and smashing each data crystal."

"Wipe our brains?" Ran asked.

It took a few minutes for Haru to get the vid to play on Ran's tablet because Ran never used it for anything other than reading. In the end Haru linked it to his network and let Sai do the work.

Haru didn't look at it. He didn't have to; it kept playing in his head. He watched Ran and Kazuki instead. Ka-chan's hair was standing on end but Ran was unimpressed.

"They are zombies," he declared. "Animated corpses. Kept working to scare people. The people in those bodies died."

Haru had not thought of that. It made him feel a lot better. He could cope with dying.

"Maybe you are right though," Ran continued. "The fewer people who know the better." He looked directly into Haru's eyes. "I understand why you lied to me. It was stupid but I understand." He gestured to include the three of them. "We work best as a team. You know that."

"I know that," Haru admitted.

"Am I part of the team?" Sai asked.

"You are on probation," Kazuki answered before either of the others could.

"A trial period during which your character and abilities are tested to see whether you are suitable for membership," Sai quoted. "I understand. I shall try to earn membership."

"You can start by knocking," Kazuki told him. "Neither of us is allowed into Ran's room without asking permission. You're here but you weren't invited."

There was a pause. "Should I go?" Sai asked.

Ran smiled. "Sai, would you like to stay for the rest of the sleepover?"

"That is an invitation?" Sai checked.

"It's an invitation," Ran confirmed.

"Yes please," Sai replied.

Haru snuggled down with Kazuki on the mattress while Ran slept in his bed. Part of Haru wanted Ran to be with them, but the rest of him knew that it wasn't a good idea. He told himself it was because Ran could feel others' emotions and being that close to people was stressful for him.

That reason would do for now.

Sleeping with Kazuki was comforting. He never missed his plushie when Ka-chan was there.

He was tired but it was a good tired.

"Is he asleep yet, Ka-chan?" Ran asked.

"Almost," Ka-chan answered from somewhere far away.

* * *

><p>.<p> 


	11. Disassembly

Heartfelt thanks to my beta and muse, Small Fox.

Thanks also to The Horseman of Death because the idea for this story started in a discussion with him.

Thank you to melissen, AdoringFan, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, danalexkayarimad, donalgraeme, xxShadowheartxx, JustSomeGuy, embagshot, TanuKyle and Ely and Drago Imperiali for reviewing Real.

* * *

><p><strong>Real<strong>

**Chapter eleven: Disassembly**

* * *

><p>It was much better once he had told Ran and Ka-chan about Sai.<p>

Life went back to normal but with some changes. Lessons with Klenn-san were once every sixteen days and lessons with Shi-chan were meant to be once every five days but didn't always happen because Shi-chan was too busy.

Haru was fine with that as long as he found out the day before. So far they were averaging one lesson every eleven point seven days.

He had come up with a strategy for combating Sumiko's jealousy. He had suggested scheduling the lessons for when Su-chan could be in her fairyland simulation and Shi-chan had agreed. Then Haru had asked Sai to keep her amused so she never wanted to leave early.

He tried not to think too much about what Sai did. He imagined it involved a lot of yellow and sparkles and Sumiko ordering Sai about.

Sharing the secret of Sai had brought him, Ran and Kazuki closer together. It was nice; like it had been when they were younger but better because the adults interfered less. Sometimes Sai was with them and sometimes not.

Haru had added a camera and a switch to the microphone and speaker in Ran's room. Ran used the switch to invite Sai in. In response Sai invited Ran into a simulation and, to Haru's surprise, he agreed.

After that, sometimes the four of them would share a sim, which was nice.

Kazuki had proved to be good for Sai. He expected Sai to behave like a human so Sai learned to do that.

Haru found himself thinking about how strict Kiba-san was with the kits and Ryuu; the way he steered them away from foxy or wolfish behaviour. It was as if Ka-chan was doing the same for Sai.

Still, underneath, Haru couldn't help the occasional burst of anxiety. What if Shi-chan decided to look at the abandoned array? Haru never mentioned data crystal arrays. He certainly never asked for one; doing so might remind Shi-chan that he had three thousand three hundred and seventy-five data crystals that he wasn't using.

Haru did want his own array. Then Sai could move to it and he could stop worrying about Shi-chan finding the data link.

Perhaps that was why he answered "A fifteen by fifteen by fifteen array I could fit in my pocket." when Klenn-san asked him what he would like as a present. Not that anyone could make such an array; even the two by two by two array Shi-chan had loaned him was too big for his pocket.

Klenn-san had actually laughed.

"Offering Haru-chan presents is not permitted," Neji reminded Klenn-san from his seat.

"It's only a game, Neji-san," Haru replied.

Neji-san nodded and settled back to consider whether to move his knight or his bishop.

Then, about six minutes later, Klenn-san said the combination of words that told Garner-san to distract Neji-san. This time it was reaching for the water jug, nudging the board and apologising for interrupting the game while replacing the pieces.

Klenn-san whispered, "No you don't. You want a secret fifteen by fifteen by fifteen array that you can fit in your pocket."

Which was true; Haru felt his cheeks flame and Klenn-san smiled.

* * *

><p>A few days later Haru was in the armoury. He hadn't been looking forward to a div of that particular duty. Firstly, the armoury was deep in the elite fighters' territory, which made him uncomfortable, and secondly he wasn't interested in weapons that didn't include at least one processor.<p>

It had proved to be much better than he had expected. Usually Asuma-san was there and Asuma-san knew the history of every blade. Today they were looking at the Uchiha knives. They checked each blade in turn, testing its edge and wiping it with an oiled cloth.

Haru hadn't realised that many of the knives Uchihas carried had stories attached to them.

Papa's knife had belonged to Izuna Uchiha. Itachi-san still carried an Uchiha knife, even if he wasn't Uchiha. Itachi-san's knife had belonged to Madara Uchiha.

Haru couldn't help wondering why his grandfather had given Itachi-san Madara's knife rather than Izuna's. In the end he couldn't resist asking.

Asuma-san did not reply immediately. Instead he studied Haru. Finally he spoke. "What do you know about Itachi?" he asked.

Haru kept it simple. "He used to be Papa's older brother but he isn't any more because he lost his sanity and killed lots of people including Papa's parents. Rin-san made him sane again but he doesn't remember the really bad things he did."

Asuma sighed and nodded. "You have a good imagination, Haru-chan. Imagine standing in the Hall, waiting for your knife. It's one of the most important days of your life; the day you become an adult. You are recognised as the future of your clan; the heir. Everyone is watching. Your father has two knives out. One was once owned by the most adored and revered leader of Uchiha.

"It looks like your father is going to give you Izuna Uchiha's knife. Then, at the last moment, he gives you the other one instead and you realise that he intended to do that all the time. That he had been tempting you into hope by having Izuna Uchiha's knife there. That he had never planned to give it to you.

"And then your father tells everyone that the knife he has given you, the knife you have accepted, was owned by Madara Uchiha, the most hated and reviled member in the clan's history."

Haru imagined it and shuddered. "Why did he do that?" he asked.

"Because your grandfather was a monster, Haru-chan, and of the terrible crimes Itachi Uchiha committed, killing his father was the one that is utterly understandable and forgivable."

Haru couldn't imagine anything that would make him kill his Papa but his Papa wasn't a monster. "Did Grandfather decide to give Papa Izuna Uchiha's knife?" he asked.

Asuma-san shook his head. "Kakashi-san made that decision. He knew that he would be the one to give your Papa his knife when the time came, so he came here and took it. So when the rest of us, the remnant of what had been before, met your Papa as an adult he was wearing Izuna Uchiha's knife."

Haru understood that. "The hope of the clan," he observed.

Asuma-san ruffled his hair. "Yes, the hope of the clan, like you and your siblings."

There was a noise at the door. Asuma-san looked towards it. "It looks like we may have overrun," he suggested.

Kazuki was in the doorway, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

Haru checked the time; Ka-chan must have run from the laboratory, where he was doing duties with Shino-san.

Kazuki only waited until they were in the corridor and the door between them and Asuma-san was shut.

"Shika-san is going to disassemble Sai's array," he gabbled.

Haru's gut clenched. "When? Now?"

"I don't know. Soon. He's going to take it apart and wipe all the crystals. He's cleared a space beside his workbench for it. He's started emptying the cupboard so he can get to it." Kazuki looked at him accusingly. "You said something to Darrent-san and Neji-san heard you."

Guilt washed over him; he should have never mentioned wanting an array to Klenn-san. Neji-san must have told Shi-chan.

Haru's mind raced. The only thing worse than Shi-chan seeing the data link was Shi-chan not seeing the data link and starting to disassemble the array.

Sai would die.

"Su-chan," Kazuki declared.

Haru hadn't got a clue; what about Su-chan?

"Get Su-chan to throw a tantrum. Now."

He was gone at top speed. Haru jogged towards the playroom in his wake, hoping that Kazuki didn't do anything stupid like biting.

Whatever Kazuki had done, it was quick. Su-chan was screaming her head off by the time he arrived. It sounded really bad, as if someone was pulling out all her hair.

Ran and Kazuki were in their usual bay. Haru was relieved to see Ka-chan there.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"Told her Sai would die if she didn't get Shika-san here now," Kazuki replied. He shrugged. "It worked. Didn't think it would. Was ready to break her projector but didn't need to."

Haru would have probably broken her projector; being punished would be easier than explaining to Sumiko why Sai had been in danger.

The intercom clicked. _"This is Naruto. Please could Shikamaru-san come to the playroom?"_

You could hear Sumiko wailing in the background even over the intercom, which was excellent. A few minutes later Shi-chan hurried past their bay towards the source of the sound.

Haru grabbed an interface and activated it. While it linked to his network he put on his goggles and earpieces.

"Sai?" he called.

Sai appeared at once, which was a huge relief.

"Just checking," Haru told him. "I'll be back soon." He lifted his goggles in time to see Ran finishing writing a notice.

**Do not disconnect power or disassemble.**

**This is important.**

**Please do not ignore.**

**Ran**

"Ka-chan is going to stick it on the array," Ran told him.

Haru frowned. "Why is it from you?"

"Because it's more intriguing and unusual that way," Ran replied.

He was right. Haru could imagine Shi-chan ignoring a notice from him, thinking it was a relic from some game.

Ran handed the notice and some sticky tape to Kazuki. "Go."

Kazuki was back before Haru would have thought possible.

"No problems," he assured them. "Two-thirds of the stuff was still in the cupboard." He put the roll of sticky tape on the table. "I taped the power cable and the data link into their sockets, in case he misses the notice."

Ran sighed. "We need to plan what to do when Shika-san finds it. This evening. My room."

Haru and Kazuki agreed and then Haru told Sai.

The screaming soon died down enough for Iruka-sensei to make his rounds. He was moving from bay to bay checking that they were all doing something constructive. He paused when he reached them, a little surprised to see that Haru and Kazuki were weaving while Ran painted.

"We thought we'd make something for To-chan," Haru explained.

"How's Su-chan?" Kazuki asked.

"Calmer provided Shika-san doesn't move more than three steps away from her," Iruka-sensei replied. "Lady knows what set her off. She hasn't been like this for a long time."

He admired Ran's painting and then moved on.

There were a few more episodes of wailing, presumably each time Shi-chan tried to get away, before Shi-chan walked past carrying Su-chan.

She had her arms about his neck and her legs around his waist. Her tearstained cheek was resting on the top of his shoulder.

Haru watched her check no one else was watching before she grinned at Kazuki.

Ka-chan glanced about before responding with a thumbs-up.

That evening they gathered in Ran's room. None of them could come up with an alternative to telling Shi-chan about Sai.

"What if he decides to wipe me anyway?" Sai asked.

"He won't," Haru assured him but a tiny part of him worried that Papa might. Papa wouldn't do it if he thought Sai was a person, but he might if he didn't.

One day passed and then another. Ka-chan told them that Shika-san was busy with other stuff and everything had been pushed back into the cupboard. Haru found himself hoping it wouldn't happen, which he knew was foolish.

It was only a matter of time.

* * *

><p>On the third day Haru had a lesson scheduled with Klenn-san. About ten minutes before it was due to start, Kiba-san told him to go to Papa's office.<p>

As he walked along the corridors Haru wondered if Klenn-san had died. People always said that you died quickly once the age retard broke down.

When the door slid back Papa, To-chan and Shi-chan were there.

He braced himself for the bad news.

They sat with him and To-chan facing Papa and Shi-chan.

"Darrent-san has asked permission to give you a gift," Papa began. "And normally we would have said no."

Haru relaxed; Klenn-san wasn't dead.

"It is a special gift," To-chan continued. "Not something that we could ever give you."

"He really wants to give it to you in person," Shi-chan added.

Haru understood. Klenn-san would leave it to him when he died, which would mean he would get it anyway when he was fourteen.

"So we have said yes, but we want to make clear that this is an exception," Papa continued.

"And we are allowing it because Darrent-san wants to give it even more than you want to receive it," To-chan concluded.

"Thank you Papa. Thank you To-chan," Haru acknowledged.

Papa stood up, so Haru and everyone else stood as well.

"Off you go then, Ha-chan," Papa told him. "Enjoy your lesson."

Shi-chan walked with him to the meeting room. When they stopped outside the door, Shi-chan smiled.

"I want to see it," he admitted. "I didn't think it was possible. It must be completely novel technology."

Haru's heart sped up. Could Klenn-san make a data crystal array that would fit in his pocket?

The door slid open. Klenn-san sat on his side of the table looking incredibly smug. Neji-san and Garner-san had already started their game.

Haru bowed. "Klenn-sensei."

"Haru-chan," Klenn-san replied. Then his gaze turned to Shi-chan and his expression changed completely. "Shika."

Haru knew the look in Klenn-san eyes. It was in Papa's eyes when he looked at To-chan.

Klenn-san loved Shi-chan.

Only Shi-chan didn't love him back because Shi-chan loved Neji-san.

It was sad but Haru knew that happened sometimes. Stories were full of it.

On the table was a beautiful box. It was carved wood and in the lid there was the Uchiha crest and his name.

It was no bigger than a hand's length on each side. If it really was a fifteen by fifteen by fifteen data crystal array it was impossibly small.

Haru hoped it was; he hoped like he had never hoped before. If it was a data crystal array Shi-chan would have no reason to disassemble the one in the cupboard. He would never see Ran's note. Given time, he and Sai would work out how to move Sai. Then the data link to the network, the note and all other traces of Sai could be removed.

"Can I stay?" Shi-chan asked.

Haru and Klenn-san exchanged looks, each warning the other not to try any of their usual tricks while Shi-chan was in the room.

"For a little while," Klenn-san agreed.

It was an array and it was amazing. Haru immediately realised that it had to contain a completely new type of crystal because you couldn't have possibly got three thousand three hundred and seventy-five normal data crystals into that volume.

"I kept it to fifteen cubed and had it wired in a conventional configuration," Klenn-san told him. He opened the box. "There is full radiation shielding." He tipped the box so that Haru could see inside. "Top layer is an ordinary interface with standard processors. I thought you would probably want to develop your own over time so I made it removable."

"Power source?" Shi-chan asked.

"Inbuilt. A novel miniature battery. I do not recommend you disassemble it or the array itself. Probably best to recharge the battery regularly but it can keep the array ticking over for a century on a single charge if necessary."

It could have been designed as a home for Sai; Haru wondered if Klenn-san had guessed.

"It's awesome, Klenn-sensei," he acknowledged. "Thank you."

Klenn-san smiled at him. "I am only sorry it can't fit into your pocket, Haru-chan," he replied.

And then he winked.

Shi-chan ended up staying for the whole lesson and Haru did not mind at all because the three of them bouncing ideas off each other was amazing.

When the end came, Haru reluctantly put the box into its beautiful carrying case and put the case into the custom built rucksack that already contained a tool case, spares, new goggles and earpieces.

Then Klenn-san pushed something else across the table.

"It's too big and heavy to carry about all the time, so I had this made for the tablet you'll need to communicate wirelessly with the array's interface. I thought it would be nice if it all matched."

Haru thanked him again but couldn't help thinking that it was an odd shape. Certainly it would not take a standard tablet, which was wider, longer and thinner.

He could make one that fit it.

Then he looked up and caught Klenn-san's eye as it winked.

That evening he spread out all the parts of the present on the floor of Ran's room.

Ran stared at the box. "It's much, much smaller than Shika-san's," he observed.

"It's like the difference between a miniature and a conventional Mulligan drive," Haru explained. "This is like the Maple. Shi-chan's is like the Oak. Even Shi-chan didn't know anyone could make data crystal arrays this small."

"It's great," Ka-chan agreed. "But if Sai lives in it you won't be able to use it for anything else. Won't Shika-san expect you to be using it for normal data crystal array stuff?"

"I have to move?" Sai asked.

"It would make you much safer," Ran reminded him, "and it would help us keep you a secret."

Haru was looking at the small satchel; the one that Klenn-san had told him was for a tablet.

It was exactly the same length and breadth as the box.

He remembered what Klenn-san had whispered to him, "No you don't. You want a secret fifteen by fifteen by fifteen array that you can fit in your pocket."

Could that be what the winks had meant?

Within a minute he had the array and interface out of the box. As he put it down on the rug Ran gave a small gasp and Kazuki's whiskers twitched.

It wasn't a cube. It was two fingers' widths shorter than the box suggested.

It took Haru another twelve minutes to work out how to open the hidden compartment in the base.

There it nestled. A fifteen by fifteen by fifteen data crystal array he could fit into a pocket, although it would be safer in the satchel Klenn-san had made for it.

Sai's new home.

* * *

><p><strong>The End<strong>

* * *

><p>.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Dear Reader<em>

_I hope you enjoyed this short side story about Haru and his friends. They will feature very prominently in the third part of the main saga, which will be called 'Leader'._

_Writing 'Leader' is proving tough. I am struggling to establish a pattern and build a rhythm. I have five chapters so far, which is good but not enough of a cushion to start posting. I think I need ten._

_In my head, 'Leader' is about sixty chapters long but who knows? Stories have a tendency to take over and write themselves. 'Leader' has yet to do that. I am looking forward to that happening._

_If you asked me to speculate when I will start posting, it will be the beginning of April. It may be earlier but that will require the writing to become easier than it is at the moment._

_If you have sighed up for an email alert for updates from this story I will make sure you get a message when the first chapter of 'Leader' is posted._

_Finally thank you so much to those readers who review. When the words refuse to come or are disappointing, communication from readers keeps me going. It stops me giving up. It makes me rewrite the poor chapters__. It inspires me to write the next._

_Thanks and regards_

_Mannah Pierce_

* * *

><p>.<p> 


	12. The complete series

**The complete series**

_This is the order of the stories in this series_

* * *

><p><strong>In the cold of space you find the heat of suns<strong> chapters 1-16

_Can his spacer crew keep Sasuke alive and his identity secret so he survives to lead a new Uchiha? Will the fox-boy they acquire affect Kakashi's carefully laid plans?_

* * *

><p>Silver Leaf Tales: <strong>Tying the knot<strong>

_Naruto and Sasuke were friends & rivals but now they are lovers. What does it mean to each of them? Will their differences stand between them?_

* * *

><p><strong>In the cold of space you find the heat of suns<strong> chapters 17-91

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 1 – <strong>The Cook and the Nursemaid<strong>

_Can Choza break the bad habit of a lifetime and find someone who appreciates him?_

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 2 - <strong>Knives<strong>

_Can Lee make himself extraordinary enough to counter Gaara's obsession with beautiful blonds?_

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 3 -<strong> Vacation<strong>

_Shikamaru decides that Naruto needs cheering up._

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 4 – <strong>Pas de Trois<strong> - Chapter 1 Partners in the dance

_Can Haku circumvent all their problems and achieve his aim of melding him, Kisame and Itachi into a threesome?_

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 5 - <strong>Kiba's day off<strong>

_Iruka persuades Kiba to have a day off while Sasuke and Naruto are away. Surely they can cope looking after Naruto's litter for a single day?_

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 6 - <strong>Friendship<strong>

_Sometimes being friends is more important than being lovers. That's what Inari thinks but will Konohamaru agree?_

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 4 - <strong>Pas de Trois<strong> - Chapter 2 Kisame's miracle

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 7 - <strong>Honour your parents<strong>

_Shikamaru receives a message that sends him into a funk. Can the crew help him out?_

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 8 – <strong>Patron<strong> [2 chapters]

_His relationship with The Last Uchiha has made Naruto the most famous hybrid in known space. Can he use his fame to help other hybrid?_

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 9 - <strong>Homeward bound<strong>

_Gaara has decided to return to Kaze and Lee, of course, will go with him._

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 10 - <strong>Opening the cage<strong>

_Kakashi realises Iruka is depressed, but why?_

* * *

><p><strong>Iteration<strong> Chapters 1-13

_Continuing the space saga about Sasuke, Naruto, their children and their family. Enemies emerge as Uchiha thrives & Naruto champions other hybrids - a testing time for New Uchiha._

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 4 – <strong>Pas de Trois<strong> - Chapter 3 First steps

* * *

><p><strong>Iteration<strong> Chapters 14-16

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 11 - <strong>Medico<strong>

_Rin through someone else's eyes._

* * *

><p><strong>Iteration<strong> Chapters 17-43

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 4 – <strong>Pas de Trois<strong> – Chapter 4 Needing

* * *

><p><strong>Iteration<strong> Chapters 44-104

* * *

><p>Tales in Tarrasade 4 – <strong>Pas de Trois<strong> - Chapter 5 Princess

* * *

><p><strong>Iteration<strong> Chapters 105 – 119

* * *

><p><strong>Real<strong> [11 chapters]

_Set in Sasuke & Naruto's extended family. What makes someone real? Haru struggles with this and other issues as he begins to grow up._

* * *

><p><strong>Leader<strong> [107 chapters]

_Follow Sasuke & Naruto's extended family. With Uchiha expanding, will opposition come from outside or within?_

* * *

><p>...<p> 


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